


Package Deal: The Lost Chapters

by Master_Magician



Series: Package Deal [3]
Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-05-21 09:04:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 50,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6045820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Master_Magician/pseuds/Master_Magician
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A companion piece to my other story Package Deal. A collection of one-shots that couldn't fit into the overall story or were not thought of until later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ice Skating and Injuries

**Author's Note:**

> After thinking back on Package Deal, and discovering potential for another triad in The Shannara Chronicles, I've recently discovered I have a fascination with triad relationships. Not only that, I enjoyed writing for these three. Therefore I decided I'm not quite done piloting this ship yet.
> 
> Therefore, we now have this. I hope I can explain clearly so you all understand. These will be more like a collection of OT3 one-shots. There isn't really a linear storyline like in the other one. They might be interconnected, or they might not. This more gets out a couple ideas I had that I couldn't fit into Package Deal all that well.
> 
> Enjoy.

"You're sure about this?" Ben regarded the frozen lake a little cautiously. Not for himself, but for his girlfriend whom was currently clinging to his arm with big eyes.

"Of course!" Evie smiled. "I think it'll be fun."

Much like Mal, Evie couldn't swim. The ice should be solid but Ben still worried. There was always the off chance something might happen. He couldn't help worrying, at least Evie found it endearing.

"Too bad Mal couldn't be here." Ben sat on a nearby log to put on his skates.

"Tell me about it." Evie took a seat next to him. "We'll just have to show her later."

Thanks to their teacher being out sick, and no substitute available, Ben and Evie had their last class of the day off. Mal had not been so fortunate, their girlfriend was still stuck inside her own class. On the upside, their girlfriend was sitting in a hot school building while they froze out here.

Then again... Ben looked over to see Evie struggling with putting her own skates on. The way she frowned and pouted when she couldn't get them to fit properly was adorable as far as Ben was concerned.

The cold wasn't so bad with warm and loving company.

"Here let me help." As amusing as it was, Evie needed help. Kneeling down to one knee, he took the girl's foot in hand and readjusted the skate.

Evie grinned down at him. "My hero."

"At your service milady." Ben responded without missing a beat.

With Evie's skates fixed, he was about to stand when Evie seized him by the cheeks. Pulling him back, she pressed her lips to his. Ben could easily outmuscle her, but he just went with it instead.

Evie snaked her arms around his neck, while Ben's own encircled her waist to pull her closer. When the two parted for air, Evie was left breathless. "Now that's one way to warm up."

Ben rolled his eyes and gave another kiss to her chilled red cheek. "Well I certainly wouldn't mind making out all afternoon, but are you still wanting to learn how to skate?"

"Hmm..." If Ben didn't know the girl so well, he would have thought she really was weighing the pros and cons of both. "Yes!" Evie squealed in exhilaration.

"Is that yes to kissing or yes to skating?" Ben couldn't resist teasing her.

Evie's initial answer came in the form of a light slap to his shoulder before she took his gloved hand in hers. Even with fabric separating them, Ben could feel the warmth of her touch. That and the girl's excitement as she dragged him toward the lake by the hand.

"Now remember, one of the most important things to remember is not to push yourself too fast." Ben explained. "You're not going to be doing midair spins in just a day or anything like that."

Fortunately for Ben, Evie didn't just hear every word, she actually listened. He was a little worried her eagerness would eventually get the better of her and she would wind up doing the exact opposite of what he told her. But for now she seemed to be doing fine.

"Gah!" Evie again almost lost her footing but her arm wrapped around Ben's allowed him to steady her before she got too far off balance. Breathing a sigh of relief, she sent a smile Ben's way. "Thanks."

"No problem, want to take a break?"

"Nope!"

As it turned out, Evie was a fairly quick study. She was still a novice at best, but Ben had faith in her. It had been a while since her last near tumble so Ben figured she could skate on her own without him to keep her level.

"Ready?" Ben prepared to let go of her arm.

Taking in a deep breath, Evie knew her safety net was about to evaporate. "Ready."

Ben expected the worst when the pair broke contact. But to his surprise, and infinite relief, Evie didn't instantly go down. She wobbled for less than a second before correcting herself and resuming. Ben watched in wonder as she skated near effortlessly.

The tendrils of worry came rushing back when Evie made a tight turn but it was for naught when she didn't even flinch or shake. The girl was a natural!

Ben had to resist the urge to cheer for his girlfriend lest it go to her head. Still, the girl was good, no doubt about that. Unfortunately, Evie flew too close to the sun and was about to come crashing back down to earth.

Literally.

Evie had been slowing gathering speed, her skates sliding across the ice faster and faster. Maybe it was a loose chunk of ice, maybe it was something in the skates, or most likely it was Evie getting ahead of herself and pushing herself too fast.

Whatever the cause, Evie lost her balance and started to go down. Ben had been close by, but out of arm reach. He rushed to her but failed to catch his girlfriend before she went down into the ice face first.

To make matters worse, Ben had panicked when he saw Evie fall and overcompensated in an attempt to reach her. The end result was Ben reaching the girl, but the young king slammed down into the ice back first. Hurt thought it did, Ben pushed it from his mind and scrambled over to Evie.

"Ow..." Evie groaned as Ben helped her sit up. He repressed his wince when he saw the state of her face. It looked worse than it felt, that much was obvious.

"You're going to need some ice. Let's go to the nurse's office." Ben helped Evie to her feet and off the icy lake.

Mal was going to kill him...

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WHERE IS SHE!" Ben and Evie both nearly jumped out of the skin at the yell.

"Crap..." Ben grumbled. He thought it would be longer before Mal found out. Someone must have seen Ben taking Evie to the nurses office. Then again, this was Mal. Ben wouldn't have been surprised if the fairy had a magical hurt tracker on their girlfriend.

Didn't matter, Ben was about ten seconds away from a potentially painful end.

Evie, who was sitting on the stool with an icepack to her face, sent an apologetic look to Ben but whatever she was about to say was cut off by the nurse's office door slamming open.

Mal wasn't spitting literal fire, at least not yet. But if Ben had to choose between the flames and the look on Mal's face right now... he would have preferred to burn.

"E! What happened?!" Mal was at Evie's side in an instant.

"M it's..."

"Are you okay? What happened?" The second part had that blazing gaze turned on Ben, who suddenly found himself unable to respond. That didn't sit well with the fairy. "What did you..."

"MAL! I'm fine!" It wasn't often that Evie raised her voice. When she did, everyone, even a borderline hysterical Mal, snapped to attention without the slightest thought.

"What happened E?" Mal's tone was much softer now.

"Ben was teaching me how to skate." Evie's hand that wasn't holding the icepack took hold of the fairy's and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I got kinda... carried away and fell."

"Uh... is anyone going to help us?" Jay's voice echoed from the doorway. All three turned to see the son of Jafar and Carlos dragging with chains what looked like a large concrete block. It was made ever stranger by the fact that the two boys were shackled to the stone.

"Do I even want to know?" Ben looked on completely stumped as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Mal looked guilty, something that happened as often as Evie yelling. "Sorry guys... I'll fix it."

"We tried to explain, then Jay tried to grab her when that failed. Tried." Carlos spoke as Mal made the rock and chains disappear with a wave of her hand and a quick chant.

The mental image of the boys dragging the chunk of stone all the way here was hilarious. But Ben bit back his mirth. Evie not so much, the girl didn't even try to restrain her giggle.

"Thank you." Jay rubbed his wrists now that the manacles were gone. "So what did we miss?" Jay came bounding into the room in typical boisterous fashion, even throwing his arm around Ben's shoulders. Something that made the young king wince when his sore back was brushed by the action.

"Skating accident." Mal deadpanned with a look that all but said 'out'.

"Get well soon Evie." Jay did a slight bow before leaving. Not before lightly swatting Ben on the back like he always did.

Biting his lip so hard it nearly bled, Ben was able to hold in the gasp of pain. The moment Jay's blow had landed, white hot pain exploded up Ben's spine. Enough to make him see spots. Ben thanked his lucky stars nobody noticed his reaction.

"You sure you're okay E?" Mal always had been overprotective of Evie. No force in the world could change that. That same mindset carried over to how Mal saw Ben too. But Evie was the more obviously hurt.

Evie sighed and removed the icepack from her face. The girl was sporting a split lip and a particularly nasty black eye along with a couple minor cuts and scrapes on her chin. But even with that she was smiling at her boyfriend and girlfriend. "I told you, I'm fine."

Ben watched with amazement as she put the icepack back on her face. Granted he hadn't known her as long as Mal, but there was some things he knew from both experience and being told. The major thing was that Evie cared greatly about her looks. She put such effort into looking and dressing beautifully. To have such injuries should have been devastating, but if Evie cared she didn't show it. It was truly a testament as to how much she had been growing as her own person, outside her mother's shadow.

Ben quite frankly couldn't be prouder of her.

His line of thought was interrupted by an unconscious flinch emanating from his injured back. Hopefully the girl's wouldn't...

"You okay Ben?" Evie uncovered eye looked at him with concern.

Oh great...

"I'm fine." Ben added a smile for good measure, hoping his voice sounded steady.

"Bull." Mal cut in, unconvinced, before she grabbed his shirt. The fairy tended not to take it well when what she considered hers took damage.

"Hey what are you..." Ben tried to stop her but Mal was determined. She got behind him and lifted his shirt.

"We're going to need more ice." Ben could hear Mal's grimace.

Ben tried to look over his shoulder but Mal was making the difficult. "It's not that..."

Mal stopped his sentence cold with a single light poke to his back. There was no hiding the noise of pain this time. Not when the girl's were both watching so closely. At least Mal offered a muffled apology.

"Ben!" Evie was about to get up but a raised hand from Mal gave her pause.

"Got some nasty bruises here but I've seen worse." Mal answered so Evie wouldn't come rushing over, knowing full well she would have injured or not. "Nothing broken I think. Just bruised."

"I didn't think it was that..." Ben swore he could feel the glare Mal was giving his back. "Okay fine, I was more concerned about Evie."

Evie didn't say a word, just reached over to take his hand like she'd done for Mal a short time ago.

"For crying out loud you two." Mal grumbled with a shake of her head. "I leave you alone for one evening and you guys do this!"

"Sorry..." Ben really didn't need to apologize, it had been an accident. But he felt like he should since he was supposed to be looking after Evie when she fell.

"I just can't leave you two unsupervised." Mal shook her head but right after she leaned in close and planted the softest feather light kiss to Ben's bruised back. The fairy was still complaining but Ben knew she just needed to vent her own concern and worry.

"But you love us." Evie told Mal with the fondest look she could manage with a black eye.

Mal leaned out from behind Ben to turn her glare on Evie. That lasted a whole one second before melting away into a tiny, almost unnoticeable, grin. "Of course I do my princess."


	2. Old Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What makes us so different than you? Hmm?" Evie had enough of Audrey's attitude. "Okay so there's three of us, is there some law saying we can't love each other? What we have is no different from anyone else who loves someone." Audrey opened her mouth to speak but Evie didn't allow the opening. "Nobody has a say in our relationship, not you, not Chad, no one. Only us three can say what we do or don't want."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many readers wanted to see an encounter with Audrey in the story. To be honest, I never could figure out how to write it in. So it got put on the back burner, but now thanks to this little collection, I can fix that.
> 
> Enjoy.

"Is it true?" The question came out of the blue. Now that Evie thought about it, Audrey herself had come out of thin air to ask it.

Audrey was impartial to Evie at worst. Her real issue was with Mal out of a petty grudge between their parents. A sin that neither Mal nor Audrey had any direct part of. Granted anyone who had a problem with Mal had a problem with her, Audrey never confronted Evie directly.

Until now at least.

"Excuse me?" Evie already began to pack up her bag. The class was ending soon and Evie was looking forward to seeing her boyfriend and girlfriend now that the day was over.

The rest of the class had been given free reign until the bell, which is what led to Audrey suddenly taking the always unoccupied seat beside Evie.

"Is it true?" Audrey repeated. "I mean, he never was very good with girls. But two? Come on."

So that was it. Evie should have seen this one coming. Audrey did seem like the clingy jealous type. Not only that, Ben had told her as much. Even going so far as to say Audrey was a bad mistake he wished he never made.

"Yes it's true." Evie glanced at the clock out of the corner of her eye. The hands moving a lot slower for her liking.

"It's just some stupid rumor. It has to be." Audrey huffed.

"I think Chad begs to differ." Evie flashed an almost sadistic grin. She may not be a very violent person, but that jerk deserved every bit of the punch Ben gave him. Chad got off easy if anything, Mal would have cursed him into a lizard if she had the chance. But the fear and physical trauma had been enough to placate the fairy.

"But it makes no sense!" Audrey scoffed. "He barely knows what to do with one girlfriend. Let alone villains like you two."

That made Evie's blood boil. Ben most definitely knew what to do with a girlfriend. Treat them like they're human, and not some object to be used. If they're a former villain, it works triple effective if you treat them like they're a person instead of a plague. Acting this way, Ben had managed to worm his way into not one heart, but two.

Such behavior was lost on many of the princes of Auradon. And some of the princesses too evidently.

"You chose good... you chose good." Evie repeated under her breath. Ben wouldn't be mad if Evie did something nasty to Audrey, but he would be disappointed, and that was something Evie would prefer to avoid. Mal on the other hand would probably give her flowers with a yell of 'go Evie'.

"Wouldn't Ben prefer to have a real girl?" Audrey didn't know how rude she sounded. Nobody was that shallow were they?

Oh who was Evie kidding? This was Audrey, shallow queen of Auradon.

"I think Ben has a real girl." Evie countered. "In fact, he has two. And I do believe Ben likes it this way."

"It's ridiculous!" Audrey raised her voice, thankfully the rest of the class was even louder among themselves. "You can't have two girlfriends."

"Why not?" That seemed to throw Audrey for a loop.

"Why not? Because..." Audrey tried to press on but Evie was having none of it.

"What makes us so different than you? Hmm?" Evie had enough of Audrey's attitude. "Okay so there's three of us, is there some law saying we can't love each other? What we have is no different from anyone else who loves someone." Audrey opened her mouth to speak but Evie didn't allow the opening. "Nobody has a say in our relationship, not you, not Chad, no one. Only us three can say what we do or don't want."

"But Ben..."

"Is happier than I've seen him since coming here." Evie snapped. "Certainly much happier than I ever saw him with you."

So rubbing her relationship in the face of Ben's ex might not have been the moral high ground in this argument but Evie couldn't bring herself to care. Her tolerance of Audrey's comments was reaching a breaking point, if it hadn't already passed it.

"That's..."

"Shut up." Evie, without realizing it, channeled a little of her girlfriend with those two words. "We gave Ben a choice."

"A what?" Audrey finally got a full word in, but her voice was meek, lacking her previous fire.

Evie herself lost a little of her own steam remembering that day in the gardens. Mal had done her best to reassure her that it was all going to be fine but it had done nothing for Evie. Hadn't helped that for once Mal hadn't been sure of herself at all. Evie always fell back on Mal's self-assurance and confidence when her own faltered.

It was both one of the happiest and terrifying days in Evie's life. The whole walk to the gardens, Evie's every step was one of pain and torment. Much like a prisoner would feel being led to the gallows. Evie loved Mal, she always did. That was the only reason she had been prepared to leave her lover's side permanently if asked.

The final choice had rested with Ben. On one path, a normal relationship with Mal. Nothing really all that different for Ben himself. The other, a strange new relationship with Mal and Evie together. Something Evie found extremely rare if not completely nonexistent in Auradon.

Evie held to illusions about the consequences of Ben's choice. She had gone over the possibilities in her head more than a million times since that day. If Ben had chosen to take Mal all to himself... it would have done more than devastate Evie. Losing Mal would have been worse than losing a limb, it would have been more like losing your entire body. A death sentence would have been more merciful. But all Evie cared about was Mal, her fairy would be making it out fine no matter what decision was made.

It was funny in its own way, Ben and Evie had little interaction up until that point and yet he held so much power over the girl in that moment.

He could have killed her with a single use of the word 'no'.

Had Evie known a fraction about Ben back then that she did now, all of Evie's worries would have dissolved into nothingness. Ben simply didn't have it in him to hurt Mal. The girls had lain everything on the table back then to him, the truth that they were not as close as sisters, but were really far more. But Ben was no fool, it didn't take much to see what the girls meant to each other.

Of course Ben knew little of Evie, so it was really out of a desire to prevent harm to Mal that the young king agreed. But their relationship had evolved from being focused around Mal and Mal alone. Whereas before Evie could freely say she loved Mal with all she had, now she could say the exact same about Ben.

Evie finally understood what Mal felt in the gardens when the fairy said she couldn't choose.

Remembering Audrey was still seated next to her, Evie ripped herself free from the bittersweet memories.

"We gave Ben a choice. Mal wanted us both but couldn't pick." Not caring about what Audrey said or thought, Evie pressed on. "We gave Ben the final say, would I be part or not. Simple. And you know what?" Evie now turned to fully face Audrey, her eyes alight with confidence borne of her love for Mal and Ben. "He said yes."

The bell rang then, and Evie thanked her lucky stars she was finally free. The girl left a mildly stumped Audrey behind at the desk.

Making her way to the door, Evie pondered her plans for the evening. The thought brought an extra bounce to her step. But she still had to...

"E!" Evie's thoughts were interrupted when Mal came flying from seemingly nowhere to throw her arms around the slightly taller girl. Evie was caught so far off guard that the pair nearly went to the floor. They certainly would have, had Evie not caught them both.

Mal was becoming more open with public affection, so it might be a wise idea to look out for the fairy with a bit more vigilance in the future.

"What are you doing here M?" Evie questioned. "I still need to stop by the dorm to change and get my better boots."

"Royal escort my dear princess." Mal answered, linking her arm with Evie's.

"Get a room." Audrey scoffed from the doorway of the classroom.

Evie groaned under her breath. All she had to do was ignore her and she'll...

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure that can come later." Mal looked over her shoulder with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows and a dismissive wave of the hand.

"Mal!" Evie hissed.

"It's okay Evie I was just kidding, sheesh." Mal lowered her voice to a whisper so only Evie could hear. "Seriously though, can that come later?"

Evie's answer was a glare that made Mal collapse into laughter while Evie's cheeks turned bright red.

"That's impossible!" Audrey gasped, hands covering her mouth. The former villains looked back at the shocked girl with confusion.

Evie was a second from questioning Mal if the fairy had spelled her or not when Evie got her answer. "You have his ring!"

"Huh?" Mal lifted her left hand up in front of her to look at the golden ring with Ben's family crest. It was the only piece of jewelry Mal owned, and the only one in the world that she didn't consider trash apart from Evie's plastic tiara.

Next thing Evie knew, Mal had moved to stand behind her and laced their fingers together. Lifting their joined hands up, Mal showed off a matching identical ring on Evie's finger. "Yup, and my dear Evie has one too."

It was not easy to tell what Audrey was feeling. Fury? Shock? Whatever it was, it left the girl unable to even speak at first. "He never gave me one!"

"Guess you weren't that good a girlfriend." Mal landed another verbal blow. The fairy noticed more than a few other students shared Audrey's look of astonishment but were smart enough not to try talking like the princess did. "Anybody else got a problem or concern they'd like to share?"

The crowd dispersed faster than Evie could blink.

It occurred to Evie that some might seen Mal wearing Ben's ring at some point. But Evie's own ring was new, she'd barely had it a couple weeks. This was the first time it was becoming common knowledge she wore it.

It was symbolic. Rumor was one thing, like how Chad at first thought their relationship wasn't real. But the ring was true tangible proof she was Ben's. Proof that couldn't be refuted no matter how hard many tried to brush off what the three of them had.

"Are you causing mischief again Mal?" Of all people to show up just then, it had to be Ben.

Mal turned around with a grin. "Absolutely."

Ben rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Well I'm sure you're having fun, but we need to get moving. It's a bit of a hike if we want to make it before sundown."

Evie almost forgot! Between Audrey's comments and Mal's defense, it had slipped Evie's mind she still needed to get changed before they headed out.

"Hike?" Audrey spoke with borderline disgust.

Ben had told Evie and Mal about this place a couple days before. A place that had an amazing view of the setting sun. Only problem was it was a bit of a walk through the woods away from the campus. If the spot was half as good as Ben claimed, it was worth it to Evie.

There was a time Evie would have been just as repulsed about a walk through the woods, but the payoff would be so very worth it. A sunset to enjoy in the wonderful company of her boyfriend and girlfriend? Evie couldn't ask for anything better.

That was something that made Evie and Mal so different from the princesses of Auradon. Beyond their exotic looks, they were more open to new things. A person like Audrey would never go on a walk through the forest no matter how much she was asked, who was doing the asking, or what was waiting at the end.

"Yes. And I'm sorry but we really must be going." Ben draped an arm around both Evie and Mal's shoulders as the trio left, leaving a fuming Audrey behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't feel all that good about this one. I doubt it was the encounter everyone wanted but it's what my brain came up with. Let me know what you think.
> 
> And I am still very much open to more suggestions.


	3. Outside View

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one comes from the mind of one of my readers by the name of Black' Victor Cachat, whom suggested, among other things, Fairy Godmother's thoughts on the relationship. This started out as that, but when I got done writing Lonnie's view, I felt the story was long enough to stand on its own. I actually liked all of the ideas given so I hope to use them all.
> 
> Enjoy.

So far, movie night had been a huge success. All four of the island kids had shown up, along with Doug and Ben. If Lonnie hadn't of known the boy for so long, she'd definitely be getting over excited over the king himself being in her room for a movie. But he was just Ben to her, and he was always grateful for that.

Hopefully once the movie was over Evie wouldn't be too tired. Lonnie had some more clothing designs to show her. Who would have thought Lonnie could bond so well with a former villain kid? It was nice having another fashionista to bounce ideas off of, especially one with so many fresh ones. Too bad Lonnie herself had zero skill in actually making the stuff.

But Evie was more than happy to do work for both of them once they came to an arrangement. They would regularly swap ideas, but Evie had a problem. With no parents for support, and no way to make money, Evie had zero access to materials. Having a person with an appreciation for the art as deep as Evie made every penny Lonnie spent for her fabrics worth it.

All thoughts ground to a halt when Lonnie saw something strange at the start of the move. The Asian girl had taken the only single armchair in the room, while most of the boys took the floor. It was a little funny seeing the reserved Doug sitting beside Jay and Carlos in front of the TV but the son of Dopey had grown a little out of his shell since the arrival of the kids from the island.

The part that stood out was why Jay and Carlos went straight to the floor, nearly dragging Doug with them. Of course all four from the isle were close friends, family even. Maybe that was why the couch was left to Evie, Mal, and Ben. But the way the boys kept snickering every time they glanced at Ben told a different story.

Lonnie knew that look on boys, they were poking fun at Ben's expense. But what exactly did they find so funny?

A glance at Ben betrayed nothing. Just a boy sitting on a couch with his girlfriend snuggled into his side and said girlfriend's best friend on the opposite side. Mal seemed content with Ben's arm around...

Wait a second... was Evie holding Mal's hand?

Despite her attempts, Lonnie was finding the show playing out on the couch more interesting than some silly movie she now couldn't even remember the name of. Something was going on here beneath her very nose, and curiosity would not allow her to let it go. Thankfully the trio were so occupied by their own business, none of them noticed Lonnie watching.

Eventually Mal shifted her spot. The fairy now lay with her back to Ben and his arms around her, but her hand had yet to let Evie go. At first Lonnie thought she would stay that way but the look she was giving Ben now said something else.

Next thing Lonnie knew, Mal was moving again. But this time, she pulled Evie's arm around her body and took Ben's hand to lay it atop Evie's. The two looked to Mal with obvious confusion but Mal just pointed down to their hands with a tilt of her head.

It was not missed by Lonnie the way Ben's hand was not quick to grip Evie's own. But judging by the look on Mal's face, this was the fairy's exact wish.

"What's going on here?" Lonnie soft spoken voice was hidden under the sounds of the movie.

Mal stayed just like that for the rest of the movie, even falling asleep soon after being wrapped in Ben and Evie's arms. Now that was crazy to see. All four from the isle had issues with relaxing around other people. For Mal to be so at ease being held by Ben and Evie... it spoke much about how the fairy felt about the pair.

But why was it so important for Ben and Evie to hold each other?

Questions like these would have to wait, the movie was about to end and everyone was going home. Ben was about to help put up but Lonnie figured he had more pressing concerns. "Shoo, we got this."

Just before the king left, Lonnie sent him a look of bewilderment but Ben was already carrying the out cold Mal from the room with Evie right behind them before anyone could say a word.

The mystery would start to assemble itself over the next few weeks. It came in small pieces at first. Ben and Mal would act as they always had, the happy couple, but Lonnie noticed Evie would be involved constantly. Ben's hugs were no longer reserved for Mal, Evie would get oddly intimate ones too. Not only that, it became not uncommon to see Ben holding Evie's hand whether Mal was present or not. The same with the girls, they would stand much closer than best friends should, embraces were far too long for just friends no matter how close you were.

Had Lonnie not watched them in her room during the movie, her first thought was that Ben and Mal were both cheating on each other with the same girl. But they were obviously aware of the others activities with Evie. It was... odd to say the least.

Unlike Chad, Ben was no cheater. Lonnie refused to believe him even capable of such thoughts let alone the actions. No, something else was going on here.

There was only one way for Lonnie to find out.

"Thank you so much Lonnie." Evie had come to Lonnie's room alone to pick up some new materials the other girl had acquired for her. "These will be perfect for Ben's new suit."

"Yeah, about that." As much as Lonnie hated the idea of ambushing the poor girl, curiosity was winning out. "What's going on between you and Ben?"

Lonnie knew she was onto something interesting when Evie instantly flushed red. "Me and... Ben?"

"Yes I think that's what I said." Lonnie tried to give her friend a reassuring smile. "Come on, I know you've been cozying up with him. You two do make a cute couple."

"You think so?" Evie sounded oddly hopeful, like she was expecting some other reaction from Lonnie. Interesting...

"Yeah, but doesn't Mal have a problem with you and her boyfriend?" Lonnie was starting to get something of a picture but she needed more information. If Lonnie was right, her next choice of words would get a certain response. "I mean, if my boyfriend was cheating on..."

"He's not cheating on either of us!" To hear the soft spoken and gentle soul that was Evie have an outburst like that was surprising. Even more so when she dropped the bag of fabric and stepped closer to Lonnie, almost threatening. Of the two girls, nobody was more shocked than Evie herself at her own burst of anger.

"Either of you?" Just as Lonnie had predicted, Evie was quick to leap to Ben's defense just like a girlfriend would. But it was her word choice that puzzled Lonnie now.

"Ben's my boyfriend... and Mal's." Evie explained, or rather attempted to. She seemed to be having a difficult time comprehending her own situation.

"So you share him?"

"Not exactly..." Evie paused. "It's more like we share Mal."

Okay... this conversation had officially gone down the rabbit hole. But that didn't mean Lonnie couldn't humor Evie to learn more. "Share Mal how?"

"Mal and I have been together for almost two years..." Evie took a seat on Lonnie's couch, ironically enough the same one she used on movie night. "You already know of the original plan when we got to Auradon."

"I do." It was not known to many that the four from the isle had plotted Auradon's downfall since their arrival. Most just think it was a spur of the moment decision by the four when they were given the opportunity. Lonnie was one of those they trusted enough to tell the truth. To repay their trust, Lonnie withheld any and all judgment. From the little she knew of their families, Lonnie couldn't blame them.

"Even on the isle our relationship was secret." Evie began. "Maleficent and my mother were bitter rivals but were civil at least. You can't understand just how much trouble we would have been in if they found out about us."

There was something in the way Evie spoke. A pain she held beneath the surface that not many had seen. It had torn her apart to hide the relationship with Mal. Not since Lonnie heard about their terrible childhoods had her heart broke so much for the girl.

"Then we came here." A ghost of a smile tugged at Evie's lips. "We told ourselves, once it was over everything will go back to normal. We just need to keep things quiet until we were done."

"You didn't have to." Lonnie should have kept quiet but a small part of her wouldn't allow her to withhold at least a little comfort to ease old pains. Even if said comfort didn't help, it was better to try and fail than to do nothing. "To hide, I mean."

"We didn't know what to really expect in Auradon. Trust me, it was culture shock on both sides." Evie's gaze turned to the floor. "Everything was going fine, until Ben came into Mal's life."

"He does seem to make her happy." Lonnie really needed to keep quiet.

"Yeah, he does. Just as happy as I ever did." Evie folded her hands in her lap. "That was why when the dust finally settled we had a problem."

The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place now. "Mal had to choose between the two of you."

"Only she couldn't. We both meant too much." Evie took in a deep breath. "Ben is... a good person. Far more than I could ever be, better than almost everyone in the world. We trusted him to make the decision."

"Wait a sec, isn't it Mal's love life? Why would you have him make that kind of choice for her?"

"You misunderstand. Mal was going to have Ben no matter what happened. The choice... was whether I would continue to be with Mal."

Evie had yet to look up from the floor, but Lonnie didn't need her to. She could hear everything she needed to know in the way she spoke. While unorthodox, Lonnie was starting to understand their bizarre relationship. "He said yes, and you found yourself with a new boyfriend and still with your girlfriend."

"Exactly!" Evie sounded so relieved to hear Lonnie say those words. "But Mal is trying to get me and Ben to... get closer."

"Having a hard time getting used to the thought you're allowed to be close to another person?" Lonnie took the seat beside Evie.

"Total understatement..." Evie groaned. If Evie and Mal had been together for two years, it was going to be a bit of a hard road for Evie. That much time together made such actions hard to fathom unless you were disloyal, but Evie was anything but.

"If I've learned anything..." Lonnie put a hand on Evie's shoulder. "Relationships shouldn't be rushed. And this to me seems no different. Just take it slow and see how it goes. Might help you get used to Ben if you spent some time alone with him."

"Well... there is this party next week. But Ben's taking us both. Mal doesn't want to go, she wants Ben to take just me." Lonnie was tempted to pull the worried girl into the biggest hug she could.

"Good, dance with him. Spend some time alone without Mal. It'll help, I'm sure of it."

"You really think..." Evie's eyes suddenly went wide. "I still have to finish Ben's suit for the party!"

Evie jumped up from the couch so fast she almost knocked Lonnie over in her haste. She was almost to the door when Lonnie called out to her. "Um... you might want to get the rest of the stuff you came for."

The bag Evie had thrown down before lay where it had fallen. An even more flustered Evie flew over to snatch it up before sprinting out the door.

Watching her go, Lonnie pondered what she had learned. Yes, their relationship was definitely bizarre. But it was plain for all to see how much Ben and Mal cared for each other. And after this chat with Evie, it was just as easy to tell what the girls thought of each other. Lonnie knew if they really cared for each other as much as she thought, those three would be just fine.

Something occurred to Lonnie just then. Mal was trying to get her boyfriend and girlfriend to spend more time tougher. A party would be perfect and just want Evie needed for her Ben issues, but Mal couldn't just not go.

Unless...

No, no way. Surely Mal wouldn't conjure some kind of magic to get out of going. Then again, this was Mal she was thinking about here. It would be devious, but it would be just like her if she cursed herself with some kind of cold or something...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Either not as many reviewers carried over to this collection from the main Package Deal as I was hoping, or my writing isn't up to the proper standards and needs to improve. Either way, reviewers are where all my inspiration comes from. So more would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Suggestions are also quite welcome as well.


	4. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one comes from a combination of suggestions by Black' Victor Cachat and magenta_sunrise. Black wanted a Fairy Godmother scene while magenta wanted an insight into Mal's perspective about how she felt about the deal Ben was offered.
> 
> Enjoy.

Fairy Godmother had been around for a while. Long enough to witness the rise and fall of entire kingdoms, the reign of heroes and villains both. Suffice to say, there was not much she had yet to see or experience.

With such a deep pool of wisdom to draw upon, it was obvious why she was asked to serve as headmistress and councilor of Auradon Prep. Parents always wished the best for their children, and nobility was no different.

Even if they had not been the future rulers of Auradon, the chance to guide and mentor young minds was too good to pass up.

As part of her daily routine, when she didn't have any appointments, Fairy Godmother would walk the grounds of Auradon Prep. Occasionally looking into a few classrooms to see how the students were doing.

On this particular day, she had taken an early lunch. Since most of the students were out and about on their own lunch break, Fairy Godmother opted to just enjoy a walk in the nice weather instead of checking on classes.

Partway through her trip, Fairy Godmother came upon a peculiar sight.

It was common to see Ben eating lunch beneath a specific tree in the main courtyard of Auradon Prep. It was almost an unspoken rule that the table was reserved for him and whomever he brought as company. This was back even before he was king.

Nowadays, it had become just as common for Mal to join him there. The others from the isle would occasionally eat with them, unless they had other plans for their lunch. Fairy Godmother didn't know where the boys sometimes went, and wasn't sure she wanted to. Jay and Carlos never got into trouble at this time so whatever they were doing must be harmless. Evie would be there every single lunch without fail. Always seated beside her best friend Mal.

Something had changed.

Ben and Mal sat like they usually did. Next to each other with Ben's arm around the back of Mal's chair holding her close but not tightly. Nothing out of place there.

It was Evie who stood out. She was seated far closer to Mal, their sides almost touching. Not only that, Fairy Godmother could see Evie's fingertips running along Ben's hand behind Mal's back. These weren't the touches used to get someone's attention, this was more like the intimate caresses done by lovers.

The topic of conversation was something Fairy Godmother couldn't tell because of the distance but the elder fairy did not miss the looks Evie sent toward Ben. There was a fondness that shouldn't be there.

Did Mal know what Evie was doing with her boyfriend right behind her?

Fairy Godmother had learned a very long time ago that things were not always what they appeared to be. Jumping to conclusions often led to an infinite number of problems. But she couldn't help but wonder what she was watching.

Mal turned in her seat to partially face Evie, a cookie halfway in her mouth. Evie grinned, and slowly leaned in close to take a bite out of the offering but she didn't pull away at first. She lingered close to Mal, their lips brushing.

When Mal suddenly pulled away, the look on Evie's face could only be described as a disappointed pout. Evie said something Fairy Godmother couldn't hear, but Mal just shrugged and giggled wearing a sly smile while her thumb pointed toward Ben.

Everyone knew that look. Mal had most certainly dared Evie to do something. Whatever it was, Evie seemed to have no reservations about it. She snatched another cookie from in front of Mal and pushed the fairy to lean forward with a hand on her back.

Leaning over Mal, Evie repeated the same gesture with the cookie Mal had done. But when Ben leaned in, Evie moved a hand to the back of his head. Theirs was less a brush of the lips and more a true kiss. The amount of passion behind it Fairy Godmother found astonishing. Between Ben and Mal it would have been expected, but not Ben and Evie.

"Aren't they just adorable?" Lonnie had shown up at some point while Fairy Godmother observed the three.

"How long has this been going on?"

"I actually don't know." Lonnie shrugged. "I only found out two weeks ago. Believe it or not, this is because of Ben."

"How?"

"Umm..." Lonnie hesitated. "I don't think they'll mind if I tell you what Evie told me. They're not really keeping it secret or anything."

What students did with their private lives was their own business. Fairy Godmother could only offer council if and when they requested it. Ben, king or no, was smart enough to handle his own affairs, but if what Fairy Godmother suspected about Mal was true, the two fairies needed to have a talk.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Whatever it was I swear I didn't do it!" Mal said the instant she was in Fairy Godmother's office. "I've been trying to be good, honest. Despite some who need a good cursing." The final comment was done with a quiet whisper.

"This isn't about that Mal, though I'm sure if they had magic, I know many who wouldn't miss the opportunity to zap Chad." Fairy Godmother reassured the fairy girl.

At Fairy Godmother's beckoning, Mal took the seat before her desk. It was never a good sign to be called into the principal's office, that much even Mal knew. But what she couldn't figure out was why, she really hadn't done a single thing wrong.

If anything, Ben had been a good influence on her. While her boyfriend may have been reflecting some of her sarcasm and attitude, Mal was unknowingly emulating his heart and kindness. In reality, they had been a balancing force for each other.

"We need to talk about Ben and Evie." Hearing that triggered Mal's subconscious defensive instincts. If this had been anyone other than Fairy Godmother, Mal would have already snarled a, probably offensive, retort. But Fairy Godmother was the embodiment of motherly kindness. She was above petty insults and attempts to force your beliefs on other people. If she had something to say, odds were it was important. Mal had enough respect for the woman that she would hear her out.

Then she would tell her off if necessary.

"What about them?" Mal amazed herself how calm and unthreatening her own voice sounded. Evie had been trying to help her not to bristle so much at perceived threats, real and imagined.

"I've noticed you seem quite... close to them both." Fairy Godmother wasn't enjoying this chat anymore than Mal was. That much was obvious.

"I am." Mal deadpanned. She didn't need to defend her love for Ben and Evie, not to Audrey, not to Chad, not even to Fairy Godmother. If others didn't understand, then it was their problem.

"Oh dearie..." Fairy Godmother shook her head, but it was not a judgmental act. The older fairy seemed almost like... she was apologizing for something on Mal's behalf. "Forgive me for dredging up old memories, but how much did Maleficent teach you beyond being evil?"

Mal was quiet at first, she didn't really have to answer. Fairy Godmother already knew.

"Yes I was afraid of that." Fairy Godmother sighed. "Then you don't actually know we fairies are incapable of loving someone else once we find our someone." Mal opened her mouth but Fairy Godmother silenced her with a raised hand. "We find someone and fall in love, that's it. If we lose that someone, we can't love another."

"That's crap!" Mal wouldn't be suppressed this time. "I love Ben, and I love Evie. I'm certain of..."

"Have you ever wondered what happened to Jane's father?" It was one of the only things Maleficent and Fairy Godmother had in common. They never, ever, spoke about their missing other half. Whenever in their presence, you simply didn't bring it up. The former's out of fear, the latter's out of respect.

Not sure what to say, Mal answered with a nod.

"He's gone." Fairy Godmother's lips turned into a sad smile. "No matter how hard you try, it's a wound that can never heal. A human heart can, but as fairies, ours doesn't have that ability."

"I know exactly how I feel!" Mal exclaimed, anger rising at Fairy Godmother's implications. "I love them, and they love me."

"Do you? Do you love them both?" Fairy Godmother questioned, leaning forward. "Or is that just what you tell yourself to avoid breaking the heart of someone who means so much to you?"

"How dare you!" Mal slammed her fists down on the solid wooden desk, her eyes flashing a dangerous shade or green. It was every bit as rare as Evie yelling, but Mal did possess an anger that equaled a hurricane in fury. Usually the only way to rile it was to threaten or hurt someone she cared about. But as Mal was discovering now, another way to awaken that beast was to accuse her love of being false.

"Mal." Fairy Godmother was not repulsed by Mal's display. "You have to understand..."

"No. You have to understand." Mal hissed. "My Evie was the only thing that made living in that hell you all left us to even remotely livable. Were it not for her I'd have given up a long time ago. Now I come here and find someone who makes me feel the same, but you want to say it isn't real?"

"I'm merely trying to ask if you fully..."

"I don't have to take this." A seething Mal stormed out of the room. No amount of respect was going to allow Mal to just sit there and endure what she was hearing.

Certain memories had indeed been dredged up. Just not the ones Fairy Godmother thought were going to be an issue. No, these were much recent. Recollections of their first date, the day they became a triad.

Memories of Mal's deception.

The fairy thought she'd buried them deep, so deep as to not be brought back to the light of day. But even now after she left Fairy Godmother's office, they plagued her every step. When they didn't, the words of Fairy Godmother took their place.

Do you? Do you love them both?

Or is that just what you tell yourself to avoid breaking the heart of someone who means so much to you?

"M! There you are." When Mal got back to her room, Evie was waiting with an enormous hug for her girlfriend. "Ben will be here any minute then we can go."

"Go where?"

Evie looked upon Mal with concern. "We're doing another movie night at Lonnie's, don't you remember?"

"Oh yeah, right." Mal didn't really feel like going anywhere. "Hey, I'm feeling kinda tired. I think I'll just stay in. Why don't you and Ben head over to the movie?" Mal instantly regretted saying that when she recalled how she duped Evie and Ben into spending an evening together without her.

Chalk up another falsity to the people she 'loved'.

Evie's countenance immediately morphed into one of concern. "You okay?" The back of the girl's hand went to Mal's forehead. "You don't feel warm."

Any other time Mal would have been flattered by Evie's concern and tender touch, but not today. If anything, the other girl's presence was a increasing reminder of Mal's lie.

"I think I'll just go for a walk or something." Yes, that was it. "I'll be back later." Mal needed to get out of here, out of this room, away from Evie. She and Ben would have a fun enough time without her. Maybe when her thoughts finally mellowed out she would come back.

Mal was already to the door before Evie had a chance of stopping her. Mal ignored her girlfriends pleads to wait, she was no doubt in pursuit already but Mal wasn't looking. She just needed out right now.

Yanking open the door, Mal intended to get out into the hall and slam the door behind her. While Evie opened the door, Mal would sprint away and hopefully escape before her girlfriend could catch up. It would have worked too, if the fairy hadn't run into the brick wall that was Ben's chest.

"You have got to be..." Mal groaned internally and tried to push past him before he could say a word.

"Mal! Wait!" Evie's call made Ben's arm shoot out and grab her around the shoulders. Unless Mal spelled him, which was out of the question seeing as how her mind was guilt ridden enough, Mal's only escape was just cut off.

That didn't stop the fairy from trying anyway, even though her smaller frame was like paper in comparison to Ben's muscles.

"Whoa hey, what's the rush? We have plenty of time." Ben of course didn't catch on to something out of place at first. But it wouldn't take him long.

Mal tried to duck under Ben's arm, and would have made it too, if Evie hadn't of caught up by then. She didn't even make it one step before Evie's hands found her hips and pulled her back into their room.

"Come on M, talk to me here. What is it?" Evie pleaded. She was worried, and it made Mal's self-loathing even stronger. To see that look on Evie's face, because of her, was like an icy spike through Mal's heart.

As if it could get worse, now Ben wore a similar expression. A beastly strength punch to the gut would be much less painful to Mal than seeing her lovers so pained.

And it was all her fault.

"I just... need some air." Mal's voice was starting to crack. There had to be some way out of this room that didn't require the door. Like a cornered animal, Mal scanned the entirety of her surroundings. Maybe one of the windows?

"Mal... talk to us. What's wrong?" Ben placed a gentle hand on Mal's shoulder.

That was it. All the walls, fragile though they were at the moment, Mal had left just shattered like a statute made of the thinnest glass. She couldn't remember the last time she cried, but the tears were welling up in her eyes unbidden now.

Evie, as befitting her loving nature, was at Mal's side in the blink of an eye. But Mal, as gently as she could shoved her away. Thankfully the girl only looked confused, instead of hurt. Mal wouldn't have been able to take one of those looks.

"I lied to you both." Mal whispered.

"What?" Ben questioned, every bit as confused as Evie.

"I lied to you both!" Mal reiterated, nearly yelling it as she stumbled back away from them. The first tear fell just then, the drop leaving a trail of moisture down her cheek. The feel so foreign it was unnerving.

"You've never lied to me M. Ever." The confidence in which Evie said it brought even more pain to Mal's heart. The girl was so sure of her trust in Mal, and she was about to damage if not outright destroy it.

"Sure you spelled me, but it was more helpful than harmful Mal." Ben lacked the number of years of companionship Mal and Evie shared, but his trust in the fairy was no less strong.

There had been more than one occasion that Mal had joked Ben was too trusting. While it had been just that at the time, Mal had taken advantage of Ben's loving nature. Twisting and violating it to suit her own desires.

Mal fell back to sit on her bed, hands gripping her knees so tightly the knuckles were turning white. There was no way out of the room, no escape from what she was about to confess.

Ben and Evie stood in front of her, both fidgeting nervously. They wanted to sit with her, badly. Mal didn't need any magic spell to be able to feel that. But after she literally pushed Evie away, the duo were apprehensive about approaching her. Not because they were scared of her, but because they didn't know how to respond to this new vulnerable Mal.

If they thought a little space would help make her feel better they would do it. Whether it was actually helping or hindering Mal honestly didn't know. She was torn between blasting them out into the hallway and wanting them to hug her so tightly she was crushed.

"I... lied to you both." Mal started again, the words choked out between quiet sobs. "Did you really think I'd be able to give up Evie?" The question was directed at Ben, but Mal didn't allow him to answer. "Of course not. But I knew what you'd say, you would have done anything to avoid hurting me."

"Mal..." Ben's attempt to cut in was all but ignored by Mal.

"And if you hadn't of agreed to this relationship Evie?" This was the part that hurt Mal the most. "I wouldn't have given up Ben either. I had no intentions of giving either of you up. I would of... I would of..." Mal couldn't bring herself to finish that particular sentence. Lucifer she was so selfish! "I manipulated you both into getting what I wanted! I didn't even care what you two thought..."

Mal buried her face in her hands, tears running in rivers down her face. Any attempt to wipe them away was fruitless, they were just replaced by more. Here she was, tough always confident Mal, bawling her eyes out in front of her boyfriend and girlfriend. Never before had she felt so weak, it made her feel all the more worse.

When the bed dipped at her side, Mal's face shot up to find Evie at her side. The girl wore a sad smile as she reached over to wipe a tear away. At the same time, Ben had done the same on Mal's opposite flank.

"Want to know what I think Mal?" Mal was about to answer Evie, but the girl placed a finger on Mal's lips to stop her. "I don't care."

"I'm with her." Ben nodded in Evie's direction while one of his hands rested on Mal's knee, his other arm wrapping loosely around her.

Evie threw Ben a smile before turning back to the fairy. "Whatever you did, for whatever reasons, it worked out for the best. This is the happiest I've ever been Mal." Evie's hand found Mal's second knee, while her arm snaked around her just like Ben's. Leaving Mal held in two different holds at once.

"But..." This time Mal was silenced by Ben's finger on her lips.

"I forgave you for the love spell, but I see nothing here that needs forgiveness. I never imagined I'd have two girlfriends, but I've been having the time of my life." Ben then motioned over to Evie. "Like our Evie said, happiest I've ever been."

How could these two be so understanding and forgiving? Mal truly didn't deserve such wonderful people to be her loves. But they begged to differ if the way their hold tightened was any hint.

"Come on, I don't think we'll be missed all that much if we don't show up." Evie gently pulled an unresisting Mal further up onto the bed so she could lay back. Just when Mal started to get worried, Evie laid down right beside her.

The beds were not all that large, Mal was the only one who was seated comfortably. Evie was snuggled into her side with barely enough room. Ben on the other side had to hang halfway off the edge of the mattress but he didn't make a single complaint.

In the loving embrace that was Ben and Evie's arms, Mal finally allowed herself to relax and calm down.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fairy Godmother hadn't meant to eavesdrop on such a personal conversation. She had come to apologize to Mal for her earlier comments, they had been unintentionally rude and insensitive. Mal was no normal Auradon student, Fairy Godmother should have taken that into account.

The elder fairy had arrived in time to hear Mal's confession by complete accident. Fairy Godmother had been ready to leave but the raw pain and guilt in Mal's voice rooted her in place. She wanted to do something to comfort the hurting girl but that would be impossible without revealing herself.

Hearing Ben and Evie reassure her, it had been all the proof Fairy Godmother needed that their love for the fairy was indeed genuine. And as for Mal... it would be just like her to be the first fairy whose heart was open to more than one.

Only time would tell where these three's relationship would go. Fairy Godmother wished them all the luck in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this is somewhat what you had in mind magenta_sunrise.
> 
> To those wondering, I intentionally avoided Mal's perspective during the primary story. In my eyes, Mal was the only one who didn't really have any issues with their relationship, so all the character development centered more around Evie and Ben.
> 
> Let me know what you all think. Suggestions are still very much welcome.


	5. Swimming Lessons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me forever to figure this one out, I came up with two parallel ideas. One lighthearted, the other a lot more darker but still ending on a happy note. I had to write two different drafts and settle with one so I decided the only way I could think of. I flipped a coin.
> 
> Enjoy.

"You alright Evie?" Ben, observant as ever, noticed Evie wasn't entirely there. Usually Evie would find it endearing but right now she was cursing it.

"Yeah of course." Evie threw her boyfriend a smile with a soft forced giggle. "Just distracted. Not my fault Mal goes overboard whenever she eats strawberries."

Aforementioned fairy was sitting across the blanket from Evie, mouth stuffed with the small fruits. She attempted a comeback, but with a mouth full of strawberries, it came out a jumbled mess of words neither Ben nor Evie could understand.

This time Evie's laugh was real. It might have been at Mal's expense but funny was funny.

Mal tried a second time to say something but it was much a disaster as her first try. The look of annoyance on her face made Evie nearly double over in laughter. As much as Mal wanted to shoot a retort back, she equally wanted to savor her beloved strawberries.

The choice must have been killer.

As it turned out, retaliation was more important. Mal chewed with renewed vigor before swallowing the entire mass in one gulp. "Oh sure, ha ha. By all means make me the evening entertainment my princess. You and I both know how you get with the cream cakes."

"That's completely irrelevant." Evie replied, thankfully keeping her voice steady even while being hit with that blasted nickname.

Seriously, how could two words affect her so? Oh that's right, because Mal possessed all the keys to Evie's heart needed to unravel her in all ways possible. One of these days she was going to figure out a way to get back at the fairy, alas it was not going to be this one.

"Really?" Mal arched a, in Evie's eyes, perfect eyebrow before adopting a surprisingly good imitation of Evie's voice. "Ooh, these are so delicious. Mmmm... I could eat a dozen more!" The fairy pretended to eat an imaginary cream cake all the while.

"I totally do not sound like that." It was the sounds her girlfriend made that brought the blush to Evie's cheeks more than anything else. No person enjoys food quite that much.

Mal and her strawberries were a close second though.

"Yes you do E." Mal said, turning her gaze to their boyfriend. "Tell her Ben."

"Oh no." Ben held up two hands leaning back. "I'm smart enough to stay out of this ladies."

Evie had to give Ben credit, poor as the attempt was, he was making an effort to hide his amusement. Trying, and failing of course. She could see the grin as clear as the sun overhead.

It had worked, Evie was worried Ben would be too observant to her body language. Her comment about Mal and the strawberries had shifted Ben's focus away from herself just like she planned.

For possibly the hundredth time, Evie's eyes drifted to the enchanted lake less than a few steps away. Its shimmering surface sparkling in the sun. If that was because of the reflection of sunlight, or magic, Evie didn't know. She cared more about the water itself.

Everyone knew the four from the isle couldn't swim, ironic as it was. Mal was the only one who bothered to learn how using Lonnie as a secret tutor. Jay and Carlos simply weren't interested, but Evie wasn't sure how she felt.

She had been there for most of Mal's lessons, Lonnie had even offered to teach her and Mal at the same time but Evie politely turned her down. While Mal learned, Evie would sit on the edge of Auradon Prep's pool, only her feet dipped into the water. Mal tried more than a few times to convince her to join them but Evie would always decline, as difficult as it was to refuse her lover anything.

Truth be told, Evie was more than a little scared of the water. She was alright as long as she could both see the bottom and her feet could touch it.

When Evie heard the story of Ben and Mal's first kiss, she realized that the surprise of knowing how to swim had been instrumental to such an event. It almost, almost, overpowered Evie's nerves but it wasn't enough to get her in.

Ever since Mal told her about that boat date, Evie would have fantasies about the water. Sometimes it would be just Mal and Ben swimming circles around the other, happy and content as could be. Evie would be watching from the shore reaching for them in vain knowing she couldn't reach them. Other times, the fairy and king would be in the water, but Evie would dive in after them. Swimming every bit as good as them, she would approach and be greeted with a kiss from each...

"E?" Evie was ripped from her daydream by a concerned Mal."

"I'm sorry what?"

"I said can you pass me one of the sandwiches?" Mal eyed her with equal parts curiosity and... something else Evie couldn't identify. Wait, Evie knew that look. The fairy knew something but wasn't sure about it.

"What? Run out of strawberries?" Evie passed one of the plates to her girlfriend, once more deflecting away from herself. But one look at Mal told Evie it didn't work. Ben could be duped every once in a while, but Evie's girlfriend of almost two years? Not so easy a feat.

"Yeah, it sucks." Mal scowled, but Evie knew she was doing some diverting of her own but for different reasons. The fairy most certainly had her number, but what she would do with it remained to be seen.

If only Evie knew...

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I thought you guys didn't like this place?" Evie questioned as she followed Mal along to path to the enchanted lake. Ben had gone ahead and was waiting on the girls.

Even among those outside the trio, it was well known Ben and Mal didn't like going to or talking about the enchanted lake. As far as they were concerned, it was the site of a fake date. They counted their real first date to being in the gardens of Castle Beast. The same one that the girl's made the offer to Ben during.

Evie, who had only heard about this supposedly amazing place, badly wanted to go. It took a lot of convincing, up to and including puppy eyes for Ben and the promise of strawberries for Mal. Even then the girl had to nearly beg for them to go. Thank Lucifer Ben and Mal were as susceptible to pleading as Evie was to them doing it.

Mal adjusted the backpack she was carrying. "Usually yes, but you liked it so... eh." The fairy shrugged again. "Plus Ben's got a surprise for us."

"A surprise?" Evie loved it when her boyfriend and girlfriend did something like that. It was all the more sweeter when it involved all three of them. Ben had adjusted to their relationship a lot better than she ever thought he would.

"Yes." Mal smiled, knowing full well what Evie was going to say next. "And no I can't tell you."

"Not even a tiny hint?"

"Nope." Mal said with pop. "You'll just... have to see." There was a mild hitch in Mal's voice that Evie's ears, so in tune with the sound, caught instantly. The fairy was concerned about something, but would never voice it.

Did it have something to do with the surprise?

Just as the enchanted lake was about to come into view, the sound of a splash reached Evie's ears.

Mal rolled her eyes. "Just couldn't wait." Evie was about to ask what Mal meant but the girl grasped her hand and pulled her along before she could make a peep.

Once they arrived, Evie could clearly see Ben already in the lake floating without a care in the world. He didn't look up until Mal threw the bag down with an audible thud.

"Really Ben?" Mal turned a playful glare on their boyfriend as she stood on the edge of the water with arms folded.

"You two were taking too long." Ben shrugged returning to his float. It always amazed Evie how much of Mal and Ben rubbed off on the other. Ben's response had been a carbon copy of what Mal would say.

Evie had been so focused on watching Ben in the water, she'd taken her eyes off Mal for a few moments. When she looked back to ask her girlfriend for some answers, Evie's breath caught in her throat.

Mal had just begun to lift her shirt when Evie turned toward her. While Evie had seen Mal in her underwear on more than one occasion, that didn't make her see the fairy as any less attractive as the first time. Evie wasn't totally against watching her girlfriend strip... but the way her face was burning right now made her turn aside to hide it.

Mal's laughter was really not helping...

"I'm not naked E. Just look at me." Unable to say no, Evie changed her gaze, away from an interesting piece of rock, back to her girlfriend. Just like Mal had said, she was clothed, sort of. But the two piece purple bikini was showing a lot more skin than Evie would have liked. At least that was what she kept telling herself in an attempt to quell the flush on her cheeks.

Now that she started to reassemble her thinking processes, Evie saw that the swimsuit was the same one she made. Coincidentally enough the exact one Mal wore during her and Ben's boat outing.

"Yours is over there." Mal pointed to the bag she had been carrying and promptly dove into the water.

Hers? What did Mal mean by that? Opening the backpack revealed a number of folded towels and another bikini that matched Mal's, just a deep blue instead of Mal's purple.

Evie's eyes went wide. She had made two swimsuits, one for Mal and another for herself. But Evie's was never meant to be used. Of course it was made just as well as the fairy's, but Evie never actually intended on wearing the thing.

Biting her lip, Evie took the garment in her hands. She had made it exactly to match her own body, it wasn't that she was worried it wouldn't fit. But wearing it was pointless unless you were actually getting into the water. Hopefully Ben and Mal wouldn't mind if she just sat on the edge of the lake.

Evie was going to ask Ben and Mal to turn around so she could change, but when she looked at her lovers she found their backs already turned.

The change of clothes was so fast not because Evie was afraid they would take a peak, but she wanted it over as quick as possible.

Taking a seat on the lakeside, Evie let her feet dangle in the water. "Okay, you can look."

Fairy and king turned as one to look at her. Ben voiced his approval with a thumbs up and a comment of "you look nice". Mal on the other hands whistled and grinned. "That's a lot hotter on you than I thought it'd be."

As if Evie could blush any harder, Mal had to go and say something like that.

Evie thought it would end there. Ben and Mal would enjoy swimming around while Evie sat here and watched. She would have been content to do so, if not with a tiny twinge of jealousy. But Evie knew her boyfriend and girlfriend better than that, the duo had something up their sleeves.

The suspicions were proven correct when Evie's lovers came swimming up to her. Mal splashing her with a wave of water. "What's wrong E? Don't want to get in?"

"I can't swim M." Evie brushed wet strands of hair from her face. This explained why Mal tried so hard, and succeeded, to convince her to go light on the makeup for today. Evie had chalked it up to being secluded with Ben and Mal.

"So?" Mal's lips turned up into a devilish grin. "That's why we're here, to teach you."

"I don't..." Evie began but didn't get far.

"Don't you trust us?" Ben cut in.

"Yes." Evie's reply was automatic.

"Then trust us now." Mal and Ben both reached up to take one of Evie's hands. Ben planted a soft kiss to her knuckles. "You'll be fine, I promise."

Were it anyone else speaking those words, Evie would have been skeptical. But this was Ben, the only other person in the world that could make her feel safe and protected no matter where they were.

"Okay." Evie nodded, and allowed herself to be pulled into the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A serious question for all my readers, does this ship even have a name? If not, I'd like to know if any of you have some ideas for one. I can't think of any that don't sound pretty corny.
> 
> As always let me know what you all think, and if anyone has some suggestions I'd love to hear them.


	6. Masqurade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So here was Ben, king of all Auradon, internally wallowing in misery and loneliness. Adding gasoline to the fire, Ben almost had to beat the princesses off with a stick. He certainly would have been, if he had been able to find one. Much to his great chagrin, it seemed every female close to his age had been flirting with him all damn night. He was a patient person, but these ladies just couldn't take no for an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Precious requested some Ben/Evie a while back so here you go. Suggestions are still very much open everyone. 
> 
> Oh and I think I finally got a ship name figured out for this. Balvie. If I'm one of the very few writers doing this ship, can I make it an official ship name? Eh doesn't matter, but that's the title I'm using from now on. 
> 
> Enjoy.

"Thank you for the dance your majesty." The blonde girl, whose name Ben couldn't remember being told, curtseyed.

Ben hated these stupid events with a bloody passion. Parties and balls were not a problem, he could even enjoy them when his girlfriends were involved. Evie did oh so love to dance. Mal not so much but would do anything to please her lovers.

This particular gathering was a masquerade ball. Again, not really an issue. The golden mask was a little annoying but nothing he couldn't deal with. No, Ben's problem was the fact his girlfriends were banned from this one.

The main guests were a bunch of delegates led by Prince Charming. Alongside them were a number of princesses from other realms. The council thought it could lead to an incident if Evie or Mal were seen with him. Ben wanted to tell them just where they could shove it but he reined in his temper. If it hadn't been for Evie and Mal's assurances it was alright, Ben would have made an incident of his own and told them he was bringing them anyway.

So here was Ben, king of all Auradon, internally wallowing in misery and loneliness. Adding gasoline to the fire, Ben almost had to beat the princesses off with a stick. He certainly would have been, if he had been able to find one. Much to his great chagrin, it seemed every female close to his age had been flirting with him all damn night. He was a patient person, but these ladies just couldn't take no for an answer.

At the start of the night, Ben didn't think this was all going to be an issue. But as it turns out, even with a mask on, he was recognizable as the king of Auradon.

Since it would have looked bad to refuse them, Ben would allow one dance only. They wished for more, some even offering a chance to get to know them better, but Ben always turned them down. Each time it was growing harder and harder to deliver the message politely.

Why not just tell them he was spoken for one might ask? He tried that, didn't work. Most thought he was joking about having two girlfriends at home, others simply didn't care. One particularly persistent redhead even said "who cares? We're here, they're not. Let's have some fun, they'll never need to know".

It took all Ben's control not to tell her exactly what he thought.

Loathe as he was to make the comparison, Ben found these girls akin to leaches. They saw a young king, freshly perched atop his throne, in need of a queen. All thought they would make the perfect queen for Auradon. Each thinking all they had to do was bat their eyelashes and Ben would fall all over himself to give in to their charms.

Ha! Not in this life girls.

Ben had gotten a taste of this while he was still a prince, but now that he was king the princesses seemed to have accelerated their efforts several fold. Come to think of it, this was kinda how he met Audrey.

Exactly the reason Ben fled the party between overzealous princesses and out onto the balcony for some fresh air. If he didn't, he was going to end up snapping at somebody. Depending on how close he was to the exit, he might have just kicked the door down and left. Both held their merits.

Checking to make sure he wasn't followed, Ben leaned against the railing rubbing his temples. He couldn't rip his mask off fast enough. Breathing in a lungful of the cool night air, the king allowed himself to calm down for the first time all night. He couldn't truly relax without his girls, but this was as close as he was going to get.

"Lovely night isn't it?" Ben almost slammed a fist down. Just his miserable luck someone would find him. It couldn't possibly be Charming or one of the other guests. No, it had to be another stupid princess!

"Yeah it is." Ben said flatly. Be nice, he reminded himself. No need to be mean or nasty, even if that would be required to drive this new girl away.

Oddly enough, this girl didn't try to seize him by the arm and ask for a turn on the dance floor like all the others did. Instead she stepped next to Ben and leaned out against the railing in the identical same pose as him. Keeping a comfortable distance from him in the process, shocking.

"You don't seem to be enjoying the party." This mystery girl never turned to look at Ben, keeping her eyes on the night sky. "I figured you'd love things like this. You can kick back, relax, and socialize. No real work involved."

"Not tonight." Ben decided he could be a little more polite with this one. She hadn't attempted to hit on him once so far. "Someone's missing."

"Missing?" The girl tilted her head slightly in Ben's direction. "You must mean your girlfriends?"

"How did you..."

"I heard you talking earlier." The girl explained. "Honestly the nerve of some people."

"No kidding." Ben found the presence of this stranger oddly comforting. It was a pleasant refresher to not be spurning more advances. "I should have just brought them anyway."

"Why didn't you?" She had shifted positions now. She stood with one arm on the railing while her whole body was turned toward Ben. But she made no attempt to move closer or touch him.

Ben groaned under his breath. "Council thought if they were seen it would stir up trouble."

"Would it?"

"I can't say the same for everyone in there." Ben pointed with his thumb to the ball in full swing behind them. "But I know Evie and Mal wouldn't have caused trouble at all. I should have told the council to shove it."

The girl let out a dramatic gasp. "That doesn't sound like something a king should say!"

Unlike the other princesses that had been hitting on Ben all night, this one said something just like they would but there was an undertone she was teasing. It actually reminded him of Evie and Mal.

Ben found himself smiling, his thoughts drifting to his girlfriends. "What can I say, Mal must be rubbing off on me pretty bad."

"I'll say." At the sound of his impromptu companion giggling, Ben turned to actually look at her for the first time.

She was a brunette, that much caught his eye first. The second thing was that there was something about the way she was standing, Ben had seen it before.

Then there were the eyes, the only real feature he could see because of the mask. Something about them gave the king a weird feeling. Not one of worry or distress, quite the opposite. In fact, they seemed awfully familiar...

Wait... it couldn't be!

"Evie"?" Ben questioned a little more meekly than he intended.

The girl erupted into hysterical giggles in less than a heartbeat. She instantly stepped closer wrapping both arms around Ben's one. "Took you long enough."

"But... you... how?" Ben was completely flabbergasted. Something like this he would have expected of Mal, but not Evie. Not that he wasn't happy to see her. In fact the king was ecstatic.

Evie used one hand to remove the mask and place it on the railing in front of them. "I snuck in silly." Once the mask was gone, her voice had changed back to its normal tone. Mal must have enchanted the thing. "Mal tried to get in too but she almost got caught. Only I got through."

"And the hair?" Ben questioned, moving his arm so he could wrap it tightly around his girlfriend's middle.

"Mal." Evie said it so casual, her body leaning fully into Ben's side. "What do you think?"

"I think you look gorgeous no matter what, but brunette isn't a good look for you." Ben adopted a voice that sounded a lot like Audrey. "It's so bland and bleh..."

Evie giggled and slapped his arm playfully. "You think mine's bad, you should have seen Mal's."

"What about Mal's?"

"Blonde." Evie giggled again, hiding her face in Ben's suit.

"You're kidding." Ben's grin was the biggest he'd had all night. Mal blonde was... a bit of a disturbing image. She looked best with her exotic purple just like Evie looked her best with her own blue.

"Not at all." Evie moved one arm around Ben while her other reached over to take his hand. "I made her pick a color at random. She's going to be so mad it was for nothing."

Ben could only laugh as he rested his head on top of Evie's. He didn't have the words to explain how glad he was to have at least one of his girlfriends here. The night just went from near unbearable to a potentially amazing evening.

"Come on." Ben handed Evie her mask back as he donned his own. As much as he hated to see Evie have to cover her face just to be with him, he wanted to avoid getting her in trouble more. "We have a couple hours of dancing to make up for."

Evie didn't respond in words. She merely beamed as she shoved the article on her face and took his hand, all but skipping as she followed him back inside.

The duo had just made it inside when yet another girl came up to ask Ben for a turn. He had seen her notice him when he was back indoors. Letting out a heavy sigh, Ben knew he was going to have to just refuse this one. He didn't want to be unkind, but he had just been reunited with one of his girls. The king fully intended to devote every second he could of the night to her.

As it turned out, Ben didn't need to make a peep.

"Hey. Get lost. He's not interested." The princess had just opened her mouth and was immediately brushed off by Evie. The sheer bitterness in Evie's voice actually made the other girl's jaw drop nearly to the floor. She was so caught off guard, the girl couldn't form coherent words and left in a huff.

"Huh." Ben just became even more grateful for his girlfriend's presence. "I wish I had you here earlier."

Evie smiled even wider. "These people need to get the message. You're mine." The last word had an edge of possessiveness Ben couldn't remember hearing from Evie before. It would seem Mal wasn't the only one extremely possessive over what she felt was 'hers'.

It became a game. Whenever the next princess tried to hit on Ben, Evie awaiting them each with a counter. Sometimes she would straight up tell them off, other times she would add in physical gestures too. Holding his hand, gripping his arm with both of her own, a kiss on the cheek, they different between contestants.

There was one Evie didn't actually say anything. When the princess of the minute got close, Evie grabbed Ben by his cheeks and pulled him down to plant a passionate kiss straight to his lips. It had blindsided Ben so badly, he had been stunned silly for a moment. Not that he even minded though. That girl got so red, from embarrassment or anger Ben didn't know, she stormed off.

Evie of course found it hilarious.

"But he said he had a girlfriend not here!" The redhead from earlier came back for round two. Too bad for her Evie was lurking in ambush.

"Yes he does." Evie grinned wickedly. "And she's not you, so beat it."

Hugging his girlfriend tightly from behind, Ben whispered in her ear. "You're having way too much fun with this."

"Ehh..." Evie leaned back in his hold. "Maybe, probably a good thing Mal didn't make it. I think she'd last two minutes before she'd start cursing left and right."

"Not sure I'd stop her." Ben said planting a kiss to the back of Evie's head.

"Me neither." Evie gasped when the song changed. "I love this one!"

Ben allowed his girlfriend to drag him along to the dance floor. While it was saddening he couldn't have Mal there, he did have his Evie. Yeah, it was definitely shaping up to be a wonderful evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you all think I did.
> 
> I was asked by magenta_sunrise for the other draft for my previous chapter. The setting is the same but it is overall darker and pretty different. So I guess it would stand as it's own story. I will likely be doing it next, but it requires a little work.


	7. What Makes You Beautiful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malvie_Trash69, I know you asked for something along the lines of an Evie/Mal date but until I can figure out details for something like that, here's something I hope will tide you over.
> 
> And now that you mentioned it, I did notice that I seem to be forgetting to do more scenes of just Evie/Mal. I'll have to fix that.
> 
> I don't usually update this fast, but I had the sudden idea for this one. I decide 'eh I'll work on this just for a little bit to get a start'. Then boom, I actually finish it. I literally sat down and started typing and it just wrote itself.
> 
> I know I said I'd do the darker draft of the Swimming Lessons chapter, but I looked at it and discovered I forgot to write the ending. That plus this idea just wouldn't let go, so I had to do this one first.
> 
> Enjoy.

When her eyes fell upon the nearby alarm clock, Evie wanted so badly to scream. She would have if her lovers weren't laying so close still fast asleep.

Last night had been one of the rarest of their relationship. A night where Evie and Mal could sleep over in Ben's private dorm room. Such a thing was normally against the rules so they had to be careful about how they did it.

Granted, Evie could see what their problem with this was considering their age. But it wasn't like that was what they did during these sleepovers. The trio literally just slept together. As in laying in the same bed, that's it. They really hadn't reached that step in their relationship yet. But they were young, they had all the time in the world to get there.

What a bed it was! Evie knew Ben was king and of course got a few extra luxuries, but wow. The thing was the kind of bed Evie remembered her mother having, just more cleaner and completely in one piece. It was a large four poster, with curtains that could close for additional privacy. Evie and Mal's beds were made for only one person, they could fit two if you were super close or more if you laid people on top each other. But Ben's could easily hold five or six. It allowed the three of them room to lay in whatever position they wanted and then some.

And the sheets and pillows! Don't even get her started on those. The only thing more comfy than them was the combined holds of Ben and Mal.

At times like these, the girls would spend the night but they'd have to sneak back to their own dorm in the morning. But for that to be possible, the rest of the school's halls had to be empty for the trek. The only way to do that was for it to be a day off from school, the only time students and faculty for the most part slept in.

Getting Ben's schedule free was the real issue they had to deal with since he had to get up early so often for his kingly duties. If there was physically a way for him to do it, Ben would make time for his girlfriends. But there was only so much rearranging he could do. Evie and Mal had long ago made their peace with that. It made the time they had together all the sweeter.

Luck had been on their side this time, Ben had no prior engagements and all three had the day free. Evie would have preferred to just stay in bed all day with her boyfriend and girlfriend, but alas this was not to be.

If Evie didn't get out of bed soon, chances were she never would until she was dragged out. Something Mal would have way too much fun doing, while the fairy herself was dragged out for the exact same reason right after Evie.

Still clad in her teal nightdress, Evie began navigating the labyrinth that was Mal and Ben's arms. Ben was easy, Mal not so much. The girl was a chronic snuggler, but she'd never admit it while awake or ever for that matter.

"Evie..." Evie froze at the sound of her name but looking down at Mal, she found the girl was still asleep. The ghost of a smile forming on her lips. "Mmm... Evie... Ben..."

With Evie no longer in her hold, Mal's arms began blindly reaching around as if looking for her. Not wanting to wake either of her lovers quite yet, Evie looked around for a way to stop her from waking Ben by accident.

A spark of an idea came to mind. As gently as she could, Evie took one of the bed's pillows and moved it into Mal's proximity. The purple haired girl immediately gripped the soft object and pulled it close to her snuggling the thing as if it were her girlfriend. "Evie..."

It took all Evie's self control, and a hand clamped over her mouth, to smother the 'awwww' she almost let out at the sight. It was so adorable! Oh she wished she had a camera right now.

Somehow, Evie managed to climb across the mattress and slip out through the curtains. Taking one last look over her shoulder, Evie saw Ben and Mal both had taken hold of the pillow.

A part of Evie was pouting internally. The words 'that should be you, get back over there' being whispered by a surprisingly large part of her mind. But she needed to get dressed for the day. Mal would be waking up herself too before long.

Forcing herself to step away from the bed, Evie padded over to the nearby dressers. If anyone actually went through Ben's stuff, there would definitely be questions about why he had women's clothing in his place. But the girls liked to be prepared for these special nights. A couple drawers were dedicated specifically for them. There was more than enough space for it. They had considered having some of Ben's stuff left in their dorm, but space was something they lacked. Not to mention Ben's bed was a universal favorite among all three.

With clothes in hand, Evie snuck over to the bathroom. She closed the door as much as possible, but didn't do it all the way for fear the sound of the latch would wake her sleeping girlfriend and boyfriend.

The first part to catch Evie's eye in the mirror was the nasty case of bed head she was sporting, it was almost painful to look at. Then came her makeup free countenance. It was such a rare sight, right after leaving bed and right before it were the only times she was ever seen without it.

It's application and maintenance was like second nature to her. Like being kind hearted was to Ben and being confident was to Mal. When she told Mal about being taught how to apply blush before she could talk, it wasn't a deception. Blush had been first, followed by lip gloss, and so on as she got older.

Mal... Only in the dark recesses of Evie's mind would she admit to herself just how jealous she was of her girlfriend. Mal never wore makeup, ever. She all but hated the stuff, even when Evie tried to get her to wear some for more special occasions.

Evie had reached a point where she stopped trying. Not because her fairy didn't want it, but because it did nothing. Mal was so naturally appealing that makeup wouldn't work. If anything, it subtracted from her beauty. If only Evie could be like that...

After she was dressed, Evie had just lifted the foundation brush when a pair of petite arms wrapped around her middle. A familiar chin coming to rest on her shoulder.

Typical sneaky Mal. The fairy had waited until Evie was distracted then used the blind spot to sneak up on her when she couldn't be seen in the mirror.

"I so hate it when you wear that." There was something unspoken in Mal's words. She wanted to call makeup trash, because that was how she saw it. But the girl knew Evie didn't feel that way, for her girlfriend's sake she wouldn't say it aloud.

"Why?" It wasn't the first time the girls had this talk. But it was even rarer than getting to sleep in Ben's dorm room. This was the point where Mal would just shrug and say she just didn't like it.

"Because..." Mal hesitated. "You are so, so beautiful E." Mal's arms tightened. "And I hate it when you cover it up like this."

Evie's heart skipped a beat. She was so stunned she almost dropped the brush. Mal never said something like that before. "But I..."

"You don't have to anymore E." Mal buried her face in Evie's blue locks, her voice muffled but still audible. "She isn't here to demand it of you anymore."

Words wouldn't come no matter how hard Evie tried. It was true, Evie's mother was always driving her daughter to wear the cosmetics. She was convinced you couldn't look beautiful or attractive without it, it was an absolute must. Evie mused that it must be one of the few habits she'd carried over when she chose good. It was so deeply ingrained in her mental processes, Evie never really considered not wearing it.

"I fell in love with Evie for Evie. Not the paint on your face." Mal pressed on. "You know I won't tell you what to do, but I don't think you need it."

Planting a soft kiss to the side of Evie's neck, Mal retreated to the other side of the bathroom to change clothes while her girlfriend's back was turned.

The words of her fairy rattled around inside Evie's head. Putting the brush down, she looked at the bag of makeup she kept in Ben's bathroom. All the jars, bottles, and tubes of makeup she put on every single day. It was indeed part of her routine, but it was a long process. If Evie was honest with herself, it was a bit exhausting.

By the time Evie had decided to close the bag, Mal had gotten dressed and was about to leave the bathroom. Just before she did, the fairy stopped and looked at Evie in the mirror while the girl finished combing her hair. Evie couldn't remember the last time Mal's grin was quite that big.

"Come on." Mal took her hand and pulled her from the room.

Ben was already waiting outside for them. He hadn't bothered with new clothes seeing as how it was his room to begin with. He would change after they left.

"Morning beautifuls. I'll see you later today." Ben gave his usual greeting and goodbye when the girls slept over at the door to his room. Evie hoped they didn't notice the way her face heated up from being called beautiful even without her makeup.

Mal checked to make sure the coast was clear before darting out into the hallway. Evie was about to follow when Ben stopped her with a kiss on the cheek.

Sometimes he would kiss them goodbye on the lips, other times on the cheek or temple. But this time his touch lingered a hair longer than normal. Evie wondered why but got her answer with his next words. "That's a good look for you, you should try it more often."

Evie's blush grew even stronger. "T... thank you." She stammered before giving Ben a hug and all but running out of the room.

Once out, Mal wasted no time in opening her mouth. "So E..."

"I don't want to hear it." Evie turned away to hide her red face. Not like that was going to work at all against Mal. But Evie didn't want to admit it to herself.

"Oh my princess." Mal shook her head grinning like a loon before moving an arm around Evie's waist. As embarrassed as she felt, Evie could never resist her fairy's touch. She was already leaning into the hold before her mind caught up to the feeling the arm was there.

That nickname again! Hard as she tried, Evie couldn't hold her shiver back. Mal knew it that too if the fairy's giggle was any clue.

"You know I love you." Mal pulled her even closer if such a thing were possible. "All of you, every gorgeous inch."

It was Evie's turn to smile. Moving an arm around her fairy and leaning over to kiss the side of her head, Evie leaned further into her girlfriend. "I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are the fuel that powers the machine that is my inspiration.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it. It actually feels like it came out better than I hoped it would. As a guy, I'm not exactly an expert on makeup stuff, so I hope I made it sound god.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing so far.


	8. Swimming Lessons Version 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the water crushing on her had cut off Evie's ability to breathe. In her delusion, she couldn't get in a single bit of breath, while in reality she was starting to hyperventilate. At this rate she was going to pass out or worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the darker version of Swimming Lessons as requested by magenta_sunrise. To be honest, I like my other version better, so I don't consider this one part of the Package Deal 'canon'. To clarify, these are parallel versions of the same events. If some parts seem similar, that's why. Up to all of you which one you like more.
> 
> Enjoy.

Ben was noticing, he had to be. Evie had no proof of course, but somehow she just knew. She was trying her best to hide the unease but knowing her luck it was failing spectacularly. Kinda like Mal, Ben had the ability to just know something was wrong with someone he loved.

Normally such a thing was greatly appreciated, it was a good thing to have for any relationship. But right now Evie was cursing it with everything she had.

"What?" Evie snapped suddenly.

"I said, can you pass me another sandwich?" Ben had another question in mind with his spoken one, but it went unsaid. It had to be on the tip of his tongue though.

"Oh sure, right, sorry. Kinda zoning out." Evie giggled and brushed off his concern by playing dumb. Ever since choosing good and realizing she had a real brain that knew real things, Evie hated to do that. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Besides, neither Ben nor Mal needed to know how close she was to a freak-out.

It started out so innocently. Evie had heard about the enchanted lake Ben and Mal went to for their 'fake' first date and was curious. She wanted to see this place for herself, it was supposed to be magical. Figurative and literal if it washed Mal's original love spell off.

Ben had been hesitant at first, to he and Mal it was kinda a sore spot. To Evie, it was a minor speed bump on the path to happiness they were driving on now. Her lovers needed to get over it. So Evie mixed one part pleading, one part big puppy eyes for Ben, sprinkle in the promise of strawberries for Mal, then bake. One recipe for a date for three to the lake.

At first Evie had enjoyed the peace and quiet with the two most important people in her young life. There was no one else, no Jay, no Carlos, no Audrey. The three could enjoy alone time in their own private little sanctuary.

Mal had immediately binged on the strawberries, just like Evie and Ben knew she would. For this exact reason, Ben had brought extra for their fairy. Not that it mattered much, they were devoured just as quickly. Evie and Ben had for themselves an assortment of finger foods and sandwiches.

Evie actually had to pinch herself, more than once, when Ben and Mal were not looking. She thought this whole thing was a dream, or she died in the car ride here and this was the afterlife. The former Evie didn't want to wake from, the latter she could live with. But nope, it was neither. This was reality and Evie couldn't be happier.

Until her gaze caught sight of the lake.

Their actual picnic site was in the middle of some old stone gazebo. Apparently the site of Ben and Mal's original false date. But Evie only found that out after insisting it was a too great a spot not to use.

Evie had been so focused on the food and her boyfriend and girlfriend, that she hadn't actually looked at the lake until a while in.

That was when the terror set in.

Considering how close they were to the water, Evie should have seen it earlier. But that just went to show how distracting Mal and Ben were.

"E?" Mal had ceased her strawberry feast when she noticed Evie staring off into the distance at the lake. But Evie couldn't hear the fairy. She could, but it was so far away and fuzzy Mal might as well have been whispering from across a room.

Water... wet... it was all Evie could feel. The liquid was nowhere near her but she could still feel the icy chill seep into her bones. Her shirt and skirt were dripping wet with water that never touched them.

Just like that Evie found she was no longer next to the enchanted lake. She wasn't even in Auradon anymore. She was a frightened little girl sinking to the bottom of the harbor on the Isle of the Lost.

"Evie!" Mal jumped to her girlfriend's side in the blink of an eye, her bowl of strawberries spilling across their blanket.

"What's wrong with her?" Ben sounded even more panicked than Mal. He had moved to Evie's side opposite Mal.

"Come on E. I know you can hear me." Mal gently shook the trance-like girl but got no response. She tried again a little harder but again nothing. "I need you to snap out of it E."

Mal was in fact wrong, Evie couldn't hear her at all. Neither could she hear Ben.

All the water crushing on her had cut off Evie's ability to breathe. In her delusion, she couldn't get in a single bit of breath, while in reality she was starting to hyperventilate. At this rate she was going to pass out or worse.

"E come on..." Mal begged. "Come back to me."

That voice... Evie's ears managed to detect the faintest bit of someone talking. Someone was calling her name, but the sound was almost foreign.

"Evie, just try to calm down." Ben put his arms loosely around the unhinged girl. His voice just as soft and gentle as Mal's.

Evie blinked repeatedly, her world seemingly shifting. She didn't understanding why she was not only dry, but sitting beside a lake when she was just in the ocean. No, not just in the ocean, but drowning again.

With her breathing evening out just a little, Evie took notice of her surroundings. It was only when she locked eyes with a terror-stricken Mal and Ben did everything come back.

Mal all but threw her arms around her girlfriend, pulling her into a near crushing hold. It was no wonder Ben looked worse than the fairy. It wasn't that he cared more, Mal just knew what was going on, he didn't.

"You haven't done that since..." Mal began.

"We got to Auradon." Evie finished, knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"Evie are you okay?" Ben placed a hand on Evie's upper back. It was just like him, he was scared out of his mind for her. He might not let it show, but it wouldn't stop him from trying to help.

Evie drew strength from Ben's touch and Mal's embrace to calm herself down until at last her breathing went from ragged back to calm. "It... It's okay. I'm fine."

"I thought you were better E." Mal buried her nose in Evie's neck, her voice muffled. "We should have never come here."

"You didn't know M." Evie moved an arm to wrap around Mal. "But I think we better clue Ben in before he goes crazy."

Mal shot up, eyes wide. "Crap! Sorry Ben."

"Don't worry about it. But what's the deal?" Ben was patient, he would wait as long as it took for them to explain. It warmed Evie's heart to have such an understanding boyfriend.

"She's scared of deep water." Mal answered, her nature of not beating around the bush coming to the fore. Been that way for over a year. She handles normal water just fine. But if it's deep at all... well you saw for yourself."

"I almost died back on the isle." Evie picked up for Mal, knowing this part still haunted her even more than it did Evie.

Thank Lucifer Ben didn't ask for the story. It was one of the only ones neither Evie nor Mal were capable of telling without breaking down into tears. They didn't care about crying in front of their boyfriend, but it was almost too painful to remember, let alone voice.

"We can go back if you..." Ben started but Evie was quick to shoot him down.

"No!" Evie mumbled an apology. "I don't want to go back yet."

"Evie..." Mal certainly didn't approve.

"We're staying." Evie said it with a finality normally observed in Mal. As if to help her case, Evie turned around so she was sitting with her legs crossed facing away from the lake. "I'll be fine as long as I don't see it."

Evie had been enjoying their lakeside date far too much to pack it in because of her petty fear. Not only that, Ben and Mal were having as great a time as her. Evie refused to ruin the date for them too. Absolutely not.

Now that she had her back to the water and couldn't see it, Evie had no problems for the rest of the date. She was even able to hand feed Mal one of the strawberries she had 'rescued'.

Evie didn't see the water, but neither did she see the looks Ben and Mal were sending each other.

Mal was up to something. That was painfully obvious. But what, Evie still couldn't figure out.

The most upfront thing was that said fairy was currently leading a blindfolded Evie to somewhere out in the woods. Apparently Ben had a surprise for her. Mal was the one leading the blind Evie while Ben himself waited for them to arrive.

Had she not been so sure how they felt about her, Evie might have thought they were about to break up with her. But she knew better than to doubt her lovers. Ben and Mal's love for Evie was still plainer than the sun in the sky.

Were it anyone else, Evie would have been skeptical about going on such a long walk without her eyes, but Evie knew Mal would never let her come to harm. Including tripping on unseen roots and rocks.

"Right this way, step up." Mal guided Evie, her voice not as steady as it usually was. Her hand oddly tight on Evie's as she lead on.

Mal rarely got nervous, but Evie knew her well enough to recognize the few signs that were ever visible. Being overly affectionate was one of them. Anymore than that, Evie would need her currently unusable eyes.

Evie's outfit itself was perhaps the strangest thing. Earlier this evening, Mal had convinced her to model some of Evie's outfits for her. A couple shirts, a pair of jeans, and completely out of left field, a swimsuit. The blue one Evie had made to match Mal's purple.

Originally, Evie had made it just for Mal in celebration of the fact the fairy had learned how to swim. On a whim, Evie made one for herself never intended to be used. Her fear made that nearly impossible anyway.

Now here she was, wearing the bikini beneath her clothes.

Mal had just gotten her to change into it when she jumped up yelling about how she totally forgot Ben had a surprise set up for her. Mal was so flustered about being late, she didn't let Evie change into more normal underwear. Instead, she just threw clothes for Evie to put on. The ones she would have, but that wasn't the point.

Mal never forgot things when it came to her boyfriend and girlfriend.

Evie was being misled, she knew that. But if Mal wasn't being entirely honest with her then there was a good reason. Evie would believe that until proven otherwise. And even then she would probably still cling to her belief in the fairy.

When they finally stopped, Mal leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "I don't know how you'll react to this, but just don't turn around okay?"

"Okay." Evie's blindfold was slowly removed.

They were back at the enchanted lake. With Evie facing away from the lake itself, she was fine for now. But that did nothing for her curiosity.

Mal looked... almost guilty. Between her chewing on her lip, and the 'sorry' her eyes were screaming, Evie wanted to reach out and hug the girl just to tell her it was alright. Even though she didn't know what the issue was.

"I need you to take your clothes off." Evie flushed immediately at Mal's words. The fairy's eyes widened in panic when it fully dawned on her just what she said. "Not like that! I mean, just everything but your suit."

Now Evie was growing skeptical, but nonetheless did as Mal asked. Now that she stood before Mal in nothing but her two piece bikini, she just had to ask. "M what's this all about?"

"It wasn't my idea." Mal defend herself. "But Ben thinks it'll work."

"What will work on what?"

Next thing Evie knew, she felt two familiar masculine hands on her bare shoulders. "Hey Evie."

Evie almost turned around, almost. But remembering the water, and Mal's request not to, she stayed put. "Hey Ben, what's this surprise?"

"Close your eyes, and no peaking." Evie rolled her eyes and once more acquiesced to the request for blindness. She felt Ben turn her around and take both her hands in his, then he started taking steps back pulling her along ever so gently.

They were moving close to the water, Evie didn't need her eyes to know that. Maybe she should ask just what they were planning instead of blindly following...

Hearing the initial splash of Ben's foot entering the water was the final straw. "Um Ben..." Evie hated how fragile her voice sounded just then but she didn't care. "Getting a little close."

"Evie... do you trust me?" Ben's grip on her hands tightened, but not enough to hurt, nowhere close.

"I do." Evie admitted before her mind even processed the query. In fact, her mind didn't even consider the alternative. There was no not trusting Ben, Evie would jump off a building if he told her she'd land perfectly safe.

"Then just focus on our voices." Mal spoke up from her side. "Don't think about anything else, just hear us and that's it."

Evie didn't trust her voice, she merely nodded. Taking a shaky breath she resumed following Ben's pull.

The exact moment Evie's foot made contact with the water, she started to slip into another panic attack like before. But this time Mal and Ben were both constantly talking. When one stopped the other picked up without a break in sound.

Doing as they said, Evie forced her mind not to think about the frigid water she was now in up to her shins. She filled her mind with images of her boyfriend and girlfriend, with looped tracks of their loving reassurances.

Further and further Evie was pulled into the lake. Her mind screamed how she was going to drown, how she needed to get out now before she had gone too far out. But Evie simply screamed right back she was with Ben and Mal. No matter what happened, they would always protect her.

Now up to her chest, Evie was astonished to find she hadn't lost control of her breathing like she normally would have at the mere sight of water alone. But her hands were still squeezing Ben's so tightly she had to be hurting him. But his grip never showed any sign of relenting.

Naturally this was when she went so far in, her feet couldn't touch the bottom anymore.

Evie cried out in terror, subconsciously launching herself at Ben to seize hold of him with both arms and legs. But the king had been ready for this. Moving one arm around Evie's lower back, his other encircled her shoulders to pull her close.

Evie clung to Ben as if her life depended on it. As far as she felt, it did. With her face buried in the crook of his neck, Evie whimpered closing her eyes as tightly as she could.

"Shhh... it's okay. I got you." Ben softly whispered in Evie's ear.

"You're safe." Mal's voice was equally gentle, her touch even more so on Evie's back.

They were in the deep section of the lake now, they had to be. But Ben easily held on to Evie's weight, keeping both afloat. Even now, neither king nor fairy stopped talking. Telling Evie she was alright, they were still with her.

Since her eyes never opened, and she spent a large portion staving off her breakdown, Evie couldn't tell how long they stayed like this out in the middle of the lake. It could have been hours, it could have been minutes, it could have even been seconds.

All Evie knew for sure was that she was held all the while and constantly being comforted. And at some point, the water stopped being cold. Now it actually felt warm and... nice.

"Open your eyes E." Evie wanted to submit to her girlfriend's request, but she was still scared of what she'd see.

"Trust us." Ben supplied when the duo noticed Evie's hesitation.

It was one of the hardest things Evie has ever had to do. Opening her eyelids required so little use of muscles, but to Evie it was a gargantuan effort.

When she did, Evie gasped in awe. "I'm... I'm swimming!"

Evie was indeed in the middle of the lake with Ben still holding her up, but she was in no danger of sinking like a rock. Not while her boyfriend and girlfriend watched over her. It was that faith in Ben that allowed Evie to loosen her hold on him. Ben's own grip weakened, but he remained the support holding her body.

"Close enough." Mal smiled brightly at her side. The fairy had stripped down to her own swimsuit at some point while Evie's eyes had been closed. "We all start somewhere."

"If you want to Evie, we can go back to shore for a..."

"No way!" Evie squealed in delight as she turned her head in every direction. Taking in all the sights being within the water allowed.

"As my princess wishes." Mal laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what, now that I actually finished writing this, I like it a bit more than I originally thought. Eh but I like writing happy stuff because the world sucks enough as it is. Anyway, let me know what you all think.
> 
> I have a whole bunch more ideas for chapters, a bunch of which are suggestions. But I'm always happy to see more. Some chapters I have planned include the origin of the 'my princess' nickname and Mal being taught how to dance by Evie (both of which originate from the isle), and many more. Stay tuned.


	9. My Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank Lucifer Mal didn't see the aftermath of the bomb she dropped with her parting words. Evie never would have heard the end of it if Mal had seen the uncontrollable shiver and Evie's body turning weak-kneed. So much so that she had to stumble over to her bed lest she risk falling to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wondered about this one. I had thoughts about doing a chapter where we found out where Mal's favorite nickname for Evie came from. But like several other ideas, I just never got around to it in favor of the wedding in the main story. Yet another reason I loved the idea of this little collection.
> 
> Doubles as fulfilling a request from Precious, whom wanted more scenes of Evie and Mal's childhood. Request granted.
> 
> Enjoy.

A ten year old Evie retreated to her bedroom, away from the screaming of her mother. It wasn't until she was actually inside and the door was shut, was the girl able to relax.

With Evie's back pressed to the rough wood, Evie took in a deep breath. She had gotten away just in time before Evil Queen completely lost it. This didn't happen often, but when it did Evie always did her best to make herself scarce. At least Evil Queen hadn't started throwing...

Evie winced as the sound of a loud crash reached her ears.

Letting out a sigh, Evie flopped herself down onto her mattress. She had been looking forward to going out and hanging out with her best friend Mal, but right now she wasn't going anywhere. Not without going through Evil Queen, and that was out of the question given her mother's current mood.

Most of the time, Evil Queen took their imprisonment on the Isle of the Lost with a dignified indifference. But occasionally, about once a month or so, she would fly into an uncontrollable rage. A litany of curses against Snow White were the mildest of some of the things the older woman would scream.

One of the first times this happened, Evie had made the mistake of getting too close. Something, whatever it was Evie couldn't remember, had been thrown at her leaving a large bruise on her jaw. Evil Queen didn't even notice she'd hurt her own daughter, so lost she was to her own anger.

Evie thought Mal was going to go on a berserk rampage when she saw the injury. Thank Lucifer Evie had been able to calm the fairy down.

Nowadays Evie would either make sure she was not at home, or would hide in her room when Evil Queen had one of her tantrums. All she needed to do was stay out of her mom's way, and all would be fine.

It did suck not being able to meet up with Mal though...

"Hey!" A voice hissed. "Hey Evie! Over here." Of all the things Evie had expected to find today, Mal at her bedroom window had definitely not been on that list.

"Mal?" Evie dashed over to the open window. "What are you doing here?"

"You were late." Mal scowled. "I came to find out what's taking so long. It can't take this long to pick an outfit."

"Well it's..." Evie nearly jumped from her skin when another crash echoed through her home. This one far louder than the last, almost as if the now broken object had been hurled at her own door.

"Ah." Mal's not-entirely-asked question had been answered. "That time again?"

Evie only nodded with slumped shoulders.

"Okay, we can work with that." Mal motioned to the ledge she was standing on. "Let's go."

"What?" Evie stared at her friend confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mal rolled her eyes. "I'm kidnapping the princess from the castle while the monster's distracted." Mal pointed a thumb toward Evie's bedroom door.

There was something about Mal calling Evie a princess, albeit indirectly, that had an effect on the girl. If it was bad or good, she couldn't tell yet. Everyone said she was pretty, that she was beautiful, but no one actually called Evie a princess.

"I thought it was heroes and good guys who saved the distressed maiden from the tower?" Evie couldn't help a bit of teasing, Mal had set her up for it.

"Details details." Mal scoffed. "Now are you going to come along or do I have to tie you up and carry you down?" It was an idle threat, but Evie did really want out of here.

"Lead the way."

"Never gets old." Mal snickered in triumph, a surprisingly semi-fresh orange being tossed up and down in her hand.

Evie rolled her eyes but had yet to pull away from the arm slung across her shoulders. "I think they will catch on someday M."

One of Mal's favorite activities for them to do together consisted of what she called 'tag teaming the market'. The game was simple, Evie would distract the shopkeeper while Mal snuck around to filch something. Today's target had been an orange, something so simple but was extremely rare and valuable on the isle. The previous owner had been no match for Evie when she turned on the charm.

"Nah." Mal gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

Why Evie didn't know, but she felt almost... disappointed when Mal pulled her limb away. Even if Mal did need both hands to peel the piece of fruit, Evie wanted her arm to stay right where it was. It was comfortable.

"Here you go princess." Even more astonishing than finding fruit in such good condition was Mal giving the first piece to someone, or any piece at all. Sharing was not something taught by Maleficent in her lessons on how to be evil.

"Thank you." Evie tried to hide the shake of her voice but she didn't know how effective it was. Mal was too good at spotting things Evie tried to hide.

It was the third time Mal had called Evie princess ever since her 'kidnapping'. To Mal, it was just a harmless playful nickname for her best friend. But to Evie it was a reminder of one of the sources of her mother's bitterness. The nobility that belonged to them, that once was theirs. Evil Queen was supposed to be an actual queen, Evie was supposed to be a real princess.

Instead they lived in the slum that was the Isle of the Lost. Their home a drafty rundown ruin of a castle barely fit for peasants let alone nobility. Not that Evie really knew better seeing as how she'd been born on the isle. If there existed somewhere better, Evie had never seen it.

"Hey princess, if you're not going to eat it I'll take it." Mal waved her hand in front of Evie's unfocused eyes. "Anybody home?"

"Yeah sorry. Not really hungry." Evie suddenly found the idea of even fresh fruit repulsive. She passed the piece to Mal without another word.

"You never turn down healthy junk." Mal's eyes narrowed into a glare. The fairy had her there, Evie avoided unhealthy food whenever possible. When something like fruit appeared, provided it wasn't all that rotten or spoiled, Evie would be first to jump on it. "What gives?"

"It's nothing." Evie deflected. "I think I better be going home."

Evie really didn't want to go home. Her mother was no doubt still in the middle of her tangent. Not to mention Evie didn't want to be separated from her best friend yet but she needed to get away.

"That's bull too." Mal was having none of Evie's attempt to flee. Evie was shoved to sit on a convenient nearby bench. "Start talking."

"I hate it here." Evie mumbled, not really intending for her friend to hear.

"We all do princess." Mal flopped down onto the bench beside the other girl. "Welcome to the Isle of the Lost, trash heap of the world. Prime real estate let me tell you."

"Stop calling me that." Evie hissed, she hadn't meant to sound so hostile. She didn't even need to apologize, Mal was completely unaffected.

"What? Princess?" Mal seemed genuinely confused.

"Yes that." Evie sighed. "I can't stand it."

"Uhh... why? I thought you were a princess?"

"Would a princess live here?" Evie jumped up, holding her arms up as if to indicate the entire world around them. "Would anybody of nobility live here?"

"Probably not."

"Exactly!" Evie cried out.

"Eh we're still young." Mal rose to her feet grabbing hold of a metal bar nearby. "Who says we have to live here forever?"

Evie was going to ask why she picked up the metal piece but Mal didn't give her the chance.

"Just imagine, we'll get out of here someday and you'll get to be a real princess." Evie opened her mouth to comment but Mal pushed on. "You get to be the princess, and if anyone gives you any lip the new mistress of evil will be there to put them in their place." Mal enunciated her words with the occasional swing of the rod like it was a sword. "You can be the princess who rules all the land."

Evie found breathing difficult all of a sudden. Mal was no dummy, she had to know what she was saying meant. If Evie was the princess of this scenario, that would mean she'd be higher than Mal on the royal hierarchy. For a person who thrived on being in charge, it almost didn't make sense for Mal to cede power to Evie of all people.

"What do you think E?" Mal grinned broadly, her arm being replaced around Evie's shoulders. "Would you be my princess?"

Evie had no clue where they came from, but she had a feeling of butterflies in her stomach come from out of nowhere. There was just something about Mal's proximity, coupled with her words and those green orbs.

Evie was utterly captivated.

"Sure." Evie found herself speaking before her brain had a hope of catching up. Evie found the idea of being Mal's princess was more pleasant than she thought.

Mal would use the nickname often ever since then, and only she could do so. Such a rule was unspoken, but brutally enforced.

One unfortunate soul had attempted its use when trying to hit on an older Evie. The would be suitor's true mistake was doing it while Mal was within earshot. The threats the fairy made alone actually made the boy faint right in the middle of the halls of their school.

Nobody ever repeated his error ever again.

It was shortly after their wordless admission of their feelings for each other the name changed. It was still just two simple words, but they always had an effect on Evie.

Mal had once again snuck into Evie's room, this time to say goodnight to her girlfriend. Evie's goodnight kiss to the cheek turned to a passionate make out session by a certain underhanded fairy.

Just before she had left, Mal had all but purred in Evie's ear. "Night my princess."

Thank Lucifer Mal didn't see the aftermath of the bomb she dropped with her parting words. Evie never would have heard the end of it if Mal had seen the uncontrollable shiver and Evie's body turning weak-kneed. So much so that she had to stumble over to her bed lest she risk falling to the floor.

How could two words affect her so deeply?

Evie must have just been flustered from their kissing. Yes, that was it. Her heart was already racing, plus the way Mal said it, that must be why she had such an odd reaction. Her fairy always knew how to get to Evie best.

It wasn't like every time Mal called her 'my princess' Evie was going to react like this, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Ben lovers, this one is meant for the girls only. I'm sure you can picture him being told the story by Evie or Mal.
> 
> Let me know what you think everyone.
> 
> I have several more ideas lined up, several of which were suggestions by my readers.


	10. Down the Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I know it's been a while since I updated any story. I've been away trying to repair some aspects of my life that I actually thought I could fix. Let's just say some things once broken, stay that way no matter how hard you try. Hopefully my loyal reviewers are still around.
> 
> Anyway on to business, this one actually takes place after the final chapter of the main Package Deal. I considered writing something like this as the final chapter but I ended up loving too much the way I wrote the end. So it made itself at home here instead.
> 
> Enjoy.

The excited scream that pierced the silence of her home almost made Evie fall out of her chair. It was only at the last second she was able to steady herself.

Thank Lucifer her sewing skills were so advanced she managed to avoid missing a stitch in her new project. Mal wouldn't have minded if the new dress had a mistake but Evie would never forgive herself. Queen or no, Evie was still the royal tailor and she refused to let her husband and wife wear anything less than perfection.

But first...

"Lily!" Evie called out to the little girl from whom the yell originated.

Making her way to the foyer, Evie arrived in time to see a blue haired young girl tackle someone who had just came in the door.

Rushing down the stairs, Evie found her impromptu guest to be none other than Jay. The thief-turned-tourney-coach was laughing just as much as the little girl on top of him. Jay held the giggling girl aloft while she held her arms out in a parody of flight.

"Lily." Evie's soft spoken but firm voice was enough to announce her presence to the duo. Both turned to face what Carlos had come to call Evie being in 'queen mode'.

Lily pouted as Jay let her down to trudge up to Evie. But the older woman wasn't going to let the child get out of this with just a pouty lip and puppy eyes. Evie practically invented that look.

"What do you have to say for yourself missy?" Evie began as she kneeled down to one knee to better face the little girl.

"Sorry mommy." Lily's eyes remained glued to the floor, evidently the carpets were quite interesting.

"What have I told you about jumping on people?"

"Not to do it."

"And why is that?"

"Because I could hurt them."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm almost as strong as daddy." It was true, Lily had inherited some of her father's beasty strength. She was nowhere near as strong as Ben, but she could give the king a good run for his money.

"Good, now apologize to your uncle." Evie motioned to Jay, whom had sat up but was still on the floor.

"Sorry Uncle Jay." Lily mumbled exactly like one would imagined a little girl in trouble would do.

"No problem." Jay chuckled.

Evie returned the grin but with a bit more of a wicked edge. She leaned down to whisper in her daughters ear. "Okay, now you can get him."

Lily beamed just before turning around and rushing Jay again. He was partway to his feet when Lily tackled him back to the floor yet again.

The sound of Jay's unmanly shriek of surprise was enough to make Evie howl with laughter. He had to of known that was coming, if he didn't well then it wasn't Evie's fault now was it?

"Okay okay." Jay laughed as he tried to get back up pulling Lily with him. "Glad to see you too, where's the other munchkin?"

"Uncle Jay!" A second little girl, this one with purple hair, appeared from nowhere to fly into Jay at top speed. But this time Jay was at least partially ready, he caught the girl in a hug before she could barrel him over.

Evie couldn't help the way her lips turned up into a giant grin. Lily and Violet never bothered hiding just how much they loved a visit from one of their uncles. There were few things that could make Evie feel so good as seeing her daughters this happy.

Too bad Ben and Mal couldn't be here. The former was away on a trip and wouldn't be back for a few more days, the latter was in meetings with the council for most of the day. Watching after two hyperactive little girls could be exhausting, Evie was always relieved to have her wife around to help. Ben did the same every second he could, but being king did have its downsides.

Much had changed since their wedding many years ago. Exactly as was planned, Evie and Mal had a coronation similar to Ben's where they became the official queens of Auradon. This was met with a little apprehension at first, but in the end it was resolved.

It probably helped that Ben was the second generation ruler in Auradon history, his parents being the first. So if one actually thought about it, that made Ben the second king in Auradon's short history. The nation wasn't that old, so precedent didn't really exist. A surprising number of people didn't care that the kingdom was going to have two queens, former villains or no.

Once they had official titles, Evie and Mal learned that yes the queen does have an active role in ruling the kingdom. The two always assumed the role of queen was mostly for show. You're the kings date at parties, other events, and the like. Your job is to look pretty while the king does all the real work. Something that they did find a little offensive to be honest.

Turns out that nope, the queen has almost equal authority in matters of state that the king does. Lucky for Mal, she had a knack for statecraft. It was irony in its purest form that the daughter of Maleficent, the hoodlum that used to spray-paint graffiti on every empty wall she could find, was skilled in managing a country.

It did make sense though, Maleficent was raising Mal to eventually take her place. To become the new Maleficent, hence Mal's name. It wasn't until Mal was faced with running a kingdom that some of Maleficent's old lessons began to surface. Ruling over an evil empire was not so different to ruling over a kingdom of good, just substitute out the evilly acts for benevolent ones.

Ben had taken it upon himself to handle the more pressing matters, while Mal was left to deal with council matters and smaller issues herself. Something Ben trusted his wife completely to.

Evie was left in a bit of a snag. She didn't know the first thing about matters of state. Her mother had always preached finding a husband and being essentially a trophy wife. That was part of why Evie had her preconceived notions about being queen, it was all she knew. It was kinda the reverse of what Mal was taught.

Being the first dual queens in Auradon did have an advantage though. There was no point in splitting the load between the three of them when Ben and Mal did such a great job of it. So Evie appointed herself the royal tailor seeing as how she was ten times as skilled as the previous one. Ben brought it up every now and then but Evie made it happen.

Years later when they had their two daughters, Evie was all too delighted to be the stay at home mother for her babies. Part of Evil Queen's 'housewife lessons' as Mal had dubbed them, was motherhood. At least some of what her mother taught her was useful in her life as queen.

Mal could do it, but lacked some of the essence Evie did. Evie had always known Mal was scared of becoming her mother if she ever had a child. Many a time Evie had reassured her that would never happen.

As if a joke played by fate, Mal's pregnancy came first. Not that it was an accident, they were trying for children so it came as no surprise when Evie tested positive shortly later. Lily and Violet's birthday's were less than two weeks apart.

The two girls were spitting images of their respective mothers when they were little children except for a couple features here and there. Their most outstanding trait was the same unique hair colors as their mothers.

As for their names, Lily was one Evie always liked. Now as for Violet... obviously it was because of the girl's hair color. Sure it was not the most original, but Evie and Ben promised their wife she'd get to choose the name. It totally had nothing to do with the fact that Mal threatened to spell them if they argued her choice, no sir.

Speaking of spelling, hair and features were not the only things that carried over to their children. Lily had received her father's strength, while Violet did not. But her sister more than made up for it seeing as how Violet possessed Mal's ability to use magic. The fairy was teaching her daughter every once in a while how to use it properly, namely by giving her a few harmless spells to play with.

Such as the levitation of light weight objects Violet was using to entertain Jay and her little sister right now.

Evie smiled while watching from a nearby couch as Violet made several of her toys float through the air and spin around. Lily clapped excitedly while Jay cheered her on.

She hadn't made it known to Ben at the time, but Evie was deeply worried when she discovered she and Mal were expecting. Ben being made king at seventeen had led them to this point, but that was a horrible things to thrust upon someone so young. Evie was horrified at the thought of her child being forced to take the throne as such an age.

Evie really shouldn't have worried. The moment Ben found out Mal was pregnant, he called a meeting of the council, marched down there and flat out told them his son or daughter wasn't going to be king at seventeen. It was one of the very, very, few times the kind hearted and soft spoken Ben could be described as terrifying.

To this day it was up in the air if the ruler at seventeen law was repealed because it was stupid and didn't make sense, or if Ben just scared the council so bad they didn't dare question. Evie liked to think it was the second, after all she did hear one of the attendees actually fainted.

Evie would have loved to be there for that declaration. It just further cemented her belief that Ben was the greatest man she would ever meet in her life.

Sitting here, watching her children play with their uncle, Evie couldn't imagine being happier. The only thing that would make this better was if the other three members of their family were here. But that was unlikely. Mal would be back later in the evening if she was lucky, Ben was gone for a while longer, while Carlos might drop by like Jay did. Even with a busy schedule as a veterinarian, Carlos would make time to see his nieces just like Jay did.

It was impossible, that was what Evie thought about happily ever afters. She loved Mal, that was never truly in doubt, but she was no fool. People like them didn't get real happy endings. Yet here she was. Sitting in a palace, queen of a country, married to the two loves of her life, with two beautiful children.

Yeah, happily ever after wasn't so implausible after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a bit shorter than normal but I'm having trouble getting my thoughts together for writing. I really wanted to do a small something to let you all know that no I'm not dead and I'm still writing for this collection. I have several more ideas planned I just need to commit them to words.
> 
> Now that I actually made this short chapter, I might just do more future stories for these three. Kinda depends on reception and what my reviewers think and say.
> 
> Review please so I know you all are still there.


	11. May I Have This Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mal was utterly mesmerized. Each step, each twirl, each swish of Evie's skirts, Mal couldn't pull her attention away. For a few moments the fairy wondered if the barrier had vanished and what was happening to her was some kind of spell being woven by Evie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a lot of effort to write this one. The last two works I wrote (both for two other different fandoms) were flops with little to no reviews. As such it made continuing my work difficult. No reviews equals no inspiration for my sorry hide. Therefore I may devote my time back to this one instead of wasting it on other fandoms since all of you actually give amazing feedback. So thank you to everyone who has stayed even when I vanish for small periods of time.
> 
> Enjoy.

"How on earth does she do it?" An out of breath Ben collapsed into the chair beside his girlfriend.

"Still working on... that." An equally breathless Mal replied from beside her boyfriend. "Years I've known her and I haven't figured it out yet.

There was a time Ben found balls such as these annoying. Too often it was young princess hitting on him constantly or dignitaries trying to get closer to the king and gain his favor. Some subtlety, others not so much.

The women had at least eased up when he got together with Audrey. One of the few reasons Ben tolerated that relationship. But now that he was with Mal and Evie, they stopped completely. Probably helped that Mal could be quite intimidating when she declared ownership of something. Evie was more subtle about it but could be no less possessive.

Women at these things were no longer an issue when the girls were present. But now that Ben was king, the visiting representatives and envoys were cozying up to him. Much like some of the girls before Evie and Mal, they thought they could take advantage of Ben's naiveté.

Must have been a shock to some of them when the young king didn't fall for their honeyed words. But such things were typical business of the throne, nothing worth putting much thought into.

Especially not when there was a great mystery of the universe needing to be solved.

How the hell was Evie still on her feet?

Evil Queen's daughter loved dancing, everyone knew that. It was one of her favorite activities right next to sewing and cosmetology. But she had been at it for hours at this point. Thanks to his beastly nature, Ben had no shortage of stamina. Mal was fit from her years on the isle. But Evie wasn't, when physical activity was involved she'd be the first to need a break.

Evidently not when dancing was involved.

Ben and Mal had been forced to bow out when their bodies couldn't handle anymore. Their girlfriend was still going at it solo without a care in the world.

"She really is something isn't she?" Ben couldn't hide his smile at seeing Evie so radiant.

"Yeah." Mal had that faraway look again that Ben recognized. The fairy's gaze was locked on Evie with an iron strong focus.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Hmm? What?" Mal seemed to snap out of whatever spell she'd been under.

"You're thinking something." Ben draped an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders. "Tell me?"

"Umm..." Was Mal actually blushing?

Ben had a feeling story time was about to feature Mal doing something she felt embarrassing. Such tales were always entertaining. The girl just needed a little more encouragement. "If you don't want to say that's fine. I could just ask Evie later..."

"No!" Mal snapped, definitely flushed now. "No you don't need to."

This reminded Ben a lot of the time Mal forced Evie to tell their story of the girls' first kiss. Evie had been so mortified but Ben found it endearing. But turnabout was fair play, Mal had put Evie on the hot seat. Now it was Mal's turn.

"It was when we were on the isle..."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't dance E." A barely a teenager Mal defended herself from where she sat.

"But come on M, it'll be fun!" Evie smiled brighter than the sun, something not seen very often by those in the Isle of the Lost. Such a pretty sight should have been revolting for the daughter of Maleficent, but for some reason seeing it on her best friend's face caused a strange feeling in Mal's stomach.

Mal forced the thoughts of Evie's shining grin aside by taking another sip of her drink. The foul concoction tasted worse than the foul black coffee served by the goblins but Mal needed the distraction.

"Please?" Evie didn't beg, not exactly. Her eyes told another story, there was almost a puppy like quality about them. Something else Mal should have found sickening, but again they looked kind of... cute on Evie.

Mal wondered to herself what was wrong with her. Was she getting sick? Fairies didn't get sick, at least not very often.

It should not have, but it took every bit of Mal's willpower to deny the other girl her request. "No, I'm staying right here. You go have fun my princess."

Evie swallowed hard at the nickname and finally retreated. "O... okay M."

Watching her best friend flee back to the dance floor, Mal allowed a wicked smile to grace her lips. It may have been a dirty trick using the nickname on Evie, but Mal didn't see any other way to get the girl to relent.

Plus she's the daughter of Maleficent for crying out loud! Dirty tricks were second nature.

Why was Mal here anyway?

Oh right... Some girl, whose name Mal couldn't remember, it might have been Jordan, was having a birthday party and Evie asked Mal to escort her and keep her company. Obviously Mal wasn't having that great a time, but Evie was. That was more than enough for Mal.

Mal had just raised the chipped glass to take another drink when the crowd on the dance floor parted just perfectly to allow Mal a view of Evie.

The song was a fast one, so Evie currently danced alone. The girl was giggling like mad as her hand held her skirt while it swished back and forth, her body moving to the rapid beat.

For reasons she could not fathom, Mal choked on her drink for a moment before catching her breath. Once the choking hazard was out of the way, Mal's eyes refocused on the movements of Evie.

There was a freedom in her Mal had never seen. It was as if Evie was forgetting she lived in squalor on a prison island because of what her mother had attempted to do.

This was far from the first time Mal had seen Evie dance. Ever since her own birthday party, Evie would constantly drag Mal to social events like these. But something was different this time, it was like Mal was seeing something in her best friend she hadn't before.

Mal was utterly mesmerized. Each step, each twirl, each swish of Evie's skirts, Mal couldn't pull her attention away. For a few moments the fairy wondered if the barrier had vanished and what was happening to her was some kind of spell being woven by Evie.

But no, the barrier remained in place. This... feeling, was something else. Something totally alien and unknown to Mal.

Thank Lucifer Mal had been able to snap out of it before someone noticed. Last thing she needed was to lose some of the respect the denizens of the island had for her.

While Mal was able to pull her gaze away from Evie, the thoughts were there to stay. As was that strange sensation in her stomach while watching Evie dance. It was the same feeling Evie's eyes had brought earlier.

Mal was able to pretend nothing was wrong when Evie returned to their table for a break. But there was still that nagging feeling. She was going to need to do something about it, like figure out what the cause was so she could get rid of it.

Maybe it was something she ate...

"You know M, you really should let me teach you how to dance." Evie scooted her chair closer to Mal's. "It's fun and you'll like it."

For a split second there Mal thought the feeling was going away. But then when Evie looked at her it came back with the force of a hammer blow.

Mal was about to deny her request again, when Evie's next words made Mal's voice die. "It's something we can do together, with just us. Nobody has to know I'm teaching you."

Something they could do together, with just them.

The feeling in the pit of Mal's stomach wasn't just back, it had grown tenfold.

"Okay E, fine." Mal's brain caught up with her mouth a second too late to stop the words from coming out. Her eyes shot open wide in alarm and was about to tell Evie she changed her mind.

At least she would have, if she hadn't seen Evie's reaction. The human girl grinned bigger than Mal had ever seen and actually squealed in glee throwing her arms around Mal's petite frame. "Finally! We can start right now."

"Hey wait a min..." Mal tried to say something but Evie was already yanking her up from her seat by the hand.

Less than twenty minutes later, Mal and Evie were standing together in one of the island's lesser used warehouses. One of the many places the duo had found in their years to hide away from prying eyes. Although Mal never would have thought they'd be using it for dance lessons.

"Okay, we'll start with some of the more common steps." Evie hit the button on the old trashy music player. "Like this M." Evie began taking Mal's hands and showing their proper position, one on Evie's hip and the other held off to the side.

It took no more than two steps before Mal stepped on her friend's foot.

"Ow." Evie muffled the word well, but not well enough. "Let's try again."

Evie was notoriously patient, but after two hours of attempts, and many bruised toes, hers was growing thin. Mal wasn't much better, she was unaccustomed to not being automatically good at something she put her mind to. It was difficult to say which of the girls was taking repeated failure harder.

Everything was made worse for the fairy because that stupid feeling was still growing stronger with each moment. Every time their skin made contact, it would flare up.

"Mal, just stop thinking." Evie chastised the fairy. "And let me lead."

"I thought this was all fancy steps and other technical crap?"

"No." Evie groaned letting out a soft breath. "This is dancing okay? Just... okay." Evie closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Look at me."

Mal did as she was told.

"Now." Evie met Mal's eyes with her own. "Just let me lead, don't think. Just feel, don't put any thought into it."

When they started moving again, Mal's eyes started to glance down at their feet. Another attempt to avoid stomping on her friend's feet. But Evie was quick to snap at her. "Don't look away, just keep your eyes on me."

Mal really hoped Evie didn't notice the way she swallowed hard when her emerald eyes locked onto Evie's darker ones. Was Evie's gaze always so alluring?

"Feel where your feet should go." Evie's tone shifted back to her normal soft spoken one while their feet moved to the beat. "Yes, just like that M."

To Mal's surprise, they actually managed to get through an entire song without Mal stepping on the other girl's toes. Evie was so excited and proud she threw her arms around the fairy. Going on and on about other dances and things Evie could teach her.

Mal still had no clue what the point of dancing was. It didn't' seem all that great a skill but if it made Evie this happy... Mal could learn it.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wow, the great Mal admitting she wasn't good at something? Mark the calendars." Ben teased with a grin. He couldn't help it, Mal set him up for it.

"You're spending too much time around me and Evie." Mal scowled and light swatted him in the ribs.

"Eh... wouldn't have it any other way." Ben responded with a kiss to Mal's knuckles.

Mal gave him a fond look and was about to form some reply but Evie chose that moment to return.

"Hey guys." Evie was all smiles but extremely unsteady on her feet. Ben was already leaping into action just as their girlfriend started to fall. The king caught the girl with an arm under her back and the other beneath her knees.

Evie was out cold before Ben even caught her.

"Did she seriously dance until she passed out?" Ben looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms.

"Yup, typical Evie." Mal rolled her eyes and brushed a strand of blue hair out of Evie's face. "Gotta give her some credit, she made it back here before dropping."

"I think it's time someone went home." Ben gently adjusted the sleeping girl in his arms to better carry her without jostling her too much on the trip. It was late into the night anyway, no one was surprised when they saw a person leave the ballroom. Even if it was the king of Auradon carrying his sleeping girlfriend.

Looking down at the slumbering girl, Ben's heart was warmed when he saw just how peaceful Evie looked. She made a noise in her sleep and snuggled herself into Ben's chest.

"Isn't she adorable when she does that?" Mal smiled warmly as she leaned over to kiss the other girl's head.

Ben always enjoyed these times alone with his girlfriends. Evie may not hide much of who she is but Mal certainly did. The fairy was becoming more open, but still held an image when in public. Very few got to see the real Mal. Ben could understand, growing up with the mistress of all evil as your mother would cause mountains of issues.

Running her hand through Evie's silken hair, Mal whispered softly. "Sweet dreams my princess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the ending seemed abruptly it's because I sat here for almost an hour staring at this trying to figure out how to end this properly. Let me know how I did everyone.
> 
> Oh and to those interested, the M rated chapter is still being done. I'm about 60% finished but it had to be paused because of my previously mentioned inspiration issues. Hopefully I can get it back on track.
> 
> In another related matter, I have several more ideas planned for this collection. But suggestions are always welcome.


	12. First Anniversary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo bad news... My computer died. That's why I've been gone so long. As if to run salt into the wound I lost a lot of files, I recovered some but not all. Joke's on me I suppose for working on multiple chapters instead of one at a time. So I have to redo all of what I've gotten done so far. But on the upside I do have several more chapters planned for this. I havn't a clue when we will see the final one.
> 
> Enjoy.

"What on earth..." Ben stared dumbstruck from the doorway of Auradon Prep's kitchen. The room was always well stocked and kept pristine. This was so that anyone who wanted to use it could without trouble.

At least that was how it normally looked. Right now the room looked like a tornado had torn through the place. The oven was smoking, ingredients were scattered everywhere, and several failed dishes covered a nearby counter. They were horribly burnt but Ben could tell they were attempts at cakes, or maybe pies. It was difficult to tell.

Standing among the chaos was a flour splattered Evie almost in tears at the oven. "No no no!"

"Evie?" Ben was still terribly confused what was going on but he did see his girlfriend in distress. The problems with the kitchen could be solved later once she was taken care of.

Evie turned her head to face Ben so fast he thought she might have hurt something in her neck. The girl's eyes went wider than dinner plates, her panic seemingly increasing several-fold. "You shouldn't be here!"

"Um why not? It is a free kitchen." Ben smiled hoping to alleviate some of Evie's worries, whatever they were.

"No, you shouldn't be here..." Evie sniffled looking away.

For the briefest of moments Ben thought Evie would channel a little of Mal and throw something at him to get him to leave. But as Evie's eyes blazed a trail throughout the demolished room, she grew more and more distressed.

"Evie what's..." Ben was hoping for a little of an explanation, but Evie wasn't about to let him.

"You shouldn't be here!" Evie screamed this time, now fully in tears. Her dainty hands fumbled to try to pick up some of the mess she had apparently created.

Having had enough, Ben made a beeline across the room to wrap his arms around Evie from behind. The girl continued her botched attempt at clean up for only a few more seconds before collapsing back against Ben's chest.

"I'm sorry..." Evie whimpered, her head hanging low.

"Hey now." Ben spoke softly. Using his hands on Evie's hips he spun the girl around so she was facing him. Even then she hid her head in his neck snaking her own arms around Ben's chest. It was not lost on the king that she was still covered in flour but Ben didn't really care, they could both get cleaned up later.

First things first...

"Come on." Ben held to his soft tone as to not scare the poor girl any more than she already was. Reaching down to gently cup her lower jaw in his hands, he lifted her head back up so she was facing him. "Talk to me here sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Evie's mascara was smeared with her tears, her eyes puffy and swollen. She had already been crying some before Ben even arrived, but his presence had made it worse.

"It's a disaster..." Evie sniffled once more. Ben did have to give her credit, she didn't rip her gaze away from his. "I wanted to make it perfect and it's all fallen apart..."

"Make what perfect?"

"Our anniversary!" Evie screeched.

Sure it was a big deal, Ben knew that. A year together would be a big deal for anyone, especially a king and two former villain kids in an unorthodox relationship. But Evie was taking it far more personally than he or Mal were. It was a special day for them all, but Mal didn't stress it, neither did Ben. Which was surprising since Ben never had a relationship last remotely this long. Mal to her credit was not a person to stress hardly anything, always keeping her calm composure.

Evidently Evie more than made up the stress for all three of them.

Evie was about to launch into a rant but Ben stopped her. "Evie honey, look at me."

The girl swallowed hard but bit back her words.

"Okay, now take a deep breath." Ben slowly sucked in a breath and waited for Evie to do the same. When she did, he exhaled and she again followed. All the while Ben caressed her cheeks with his thumbs soothingly. "Good, now tell me what happened."

Now that she had calmed down somewhat, Evie was able to speak clearly. She had been in the kitchen for hours trying to bake a cake for the three of them. Ben was shocked she was doing so poorly. According to Evie cooking was one of the skills she was taught by Evie Queen. Few things could come close to her skill in the seamstress arts, but she was no slouch in the kitchen.

"Cooking on the isle with garbage and other stuff isn't quite the same as I thought." Evie looked more downcast than Ben could remember seeing her. Last time she looked this bad was when she had convinced herself Ben and Mal were going to dump her so they could go on as a more normal couple.

It made Ben's heart ache seeing his girlfriend like this. Evie was so self-conscious about their relationship, always afraid she would lose them both without warning. Ben and Mal would spend forever reassuring her that wasn't the case if it was necessary. They weren't going anywhere without their princess.

"It's our first anniversary off the isle, and the first with you. It needs to be perfect." Evie sobbed quietly.

That was it. Only with that last comment did all the pieces fall into place in Ben's mind. Evie and Mal had been a couple for a while on the isle. They would have had a few anniversary of their own before even having met Ben. But this was the first in forever where they were all together as one. Nobody had to hide, they could be open with their love and affection.

No wonder Evie wanted it perfect.

"Oh Evie..." Ben sighed. "Do you really thing me and Mal want perfect?"

Evie opened her mouth but Ben cut her off.

"No, we don't. We want our princess and that's it." Evie's breath hitched ever so slightly when Ben used Mal's nickname for their girlfriend. Ben couldn't quite get the same reaction Mal did but it worked when he needed Evie to listen.

"But... but..." Evie stammered, unable to speak.

"We want you Evie." Ben took her hands in his and lifted them to plant a kiss on the knuckles of each. "What could be more precious than just being with you?"

Evie's eyes widened as her mouth opened then closed, as if she tried to say something but her body wouldn't allow it. Instead of talking she settled for throwing herself at Ben, her arms moving around his neck to hug him tightly. Ben just smiled and returned the embrace, his hands rubbing gentle circles into the girl's lower back.

As much as Ben would have liked to just stay like that, they didn't want to be late. "Why don't you head up to my room and get cleaned up? We meet Mal at your dorm in forty-five minutes."

Evie looked down at herself noticing for the first time what a mess she was, and that part of said mess was now on Ben. Immediately after she saw the clock and realized Ben was right but not only that, the kitchen was still a mess. Her alarm was about to make a triumphant return but Ben shushed her with a finger to her lips.

"Go get cleaned up, I'll take care of the kitchen."

"But I'm..."

"Evie." Ben silenced her with a soft kiss on the lips this time. "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

Evie so wanted to argue further, but Ben had adopted some of Mal's stubbornness. Evie would have known there was no dissuading Ben from his course of action.

Evie surrendered at last and turned to leave. She made only three steps before rushing back to Ben to plant a deeply passionate kiss to his own lips before vanishing from the room.

Ben couldn't help grinning like an idiot watching her go.

Turning back to the kitchen, Ben fully comprehended the predicament he had just put himself in. One hour to tidy up the war-zone that Evie turned the kitchen into, go change clothes and wash up, then make it to Mal and Evie's dorm room.

"Hmm... challenge accepted." The king of Auradon rolled his sleeves up and got to work.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An indoor picnic wasn't quite how they intended to celebrate their one year anniversary. Their original plan was a more normal one in the gardens of Castle Beast, the exact same place they shared their first date together. All agreed it was a fitting place.

But mother nature decided that day was perfect for a rainstorm, so a last minute change shifted the event to the girl's dorm. Not that the trio cared. What mattered was that they were together.

Evie arrived at her room a little before the arranged time, Mal was of course already there. Though she was still a little sad about messing up the cake plan, it brightened Evie's spirits considerable when her girlfriend greeted her with a hug and a kiss.

The pair had just started talking when Ben showed up with a white box in his hands and a few plates. It was Mal who took the object and opened it to reveal a plain chocolate cake with strawberry icing.

"Cool!" Mal grinned immediately cutting a piece for herself.

Evie looked on utterly flabbergasted. It would have been physically impossible for Ben to have gone and gotten a cake and clean the kitchen at the same time. Knowing her boyfriend, Ben would have never just left the kitchen in a state of disarray.

Evie was going to be feeling guilty about that one for a while.

But where did the cake come from?

While Mal was distracted, Evie looked over her at Ben with a look that very clearly said. 'What's this?'

Checking to make sure Mal was too busy indulging in her favorite icing to notice, Ben mouthed two words. Jay and Carlos.

Evie rolled her eyes and let loose a giggle. Of course they would... hey wait a second. How could they have gotten a cake? Neither of the boys knew how to cook, let alone how to bake a cake. Furthermore, they couldn't have gone out and got one. Nobody knew Evie was in the kitchen except Ben, even if they showed up after she left there just wasn't enough time to go get one or make it. That was when it hit her.

The boys couldn't bake, but someone else they knew could.

Lonnie.

But that still didn't answer the question of how they could have it ready so fast. Evie laughed all the harder when that query answered itself. They didn't know Evie attempted making one but probably did know she might try.

If Evie had succeeded, they would have two cakes. If not, they would have just the one. The whole thing sounded like a scheme Jay would come up with. Regardless it made Evie's heart swell with love for her brothers that they were so considerate.

"Umm Mal? You got some..." Evie began, motioning to the strawberry frosting on Mal's upper lip. The fairy had attacked her cake slice with bestial fervor.

"Huh? Where?" Mal tried to look down at her own lip to little success.

Evie rolled her eyes and leaned in close to wipe it off.

Which was exactly what Mal had been wanting. While she was leaned in close Mal seized Evie by the cheeks and brought her lips to hers in a searing kiss that literally took Evie's breath away.

Oh that sneaky fairy...

By the time she was done, Mal say back licking what little remained of the frosting from her lip while Evie starred off into space. "Now that is what I call a perfect anniversary present my princess."

Even with her mind all cloudy from the kiss, Evie still shivered at the sound of the nickname.

Part of the reason Evie wanted to do the cake herself was because they agreed on getting no gifts for each other. One might think it odd, but really there was nothing they wanted they didn't already have. Plus it was Mal's idea to do so, mostly to keep Ben in check. It simply wasn't fair when your boyfriend was the king of Auradon who would happily give you anything you desired. Fortunately for Ben, the girls had all they could want and more.

Not to mention it always brought a smile to Evie's face when she remembered Mal threatening to spell them if they got presents for her.

From beside them Ben chuckled. "Saw that one coming."

The gaze of both girls turned at the perfect time to see Ben lift a forkful of cake to his mouth.

"Hey, that's my cake." Mal's eyes narrowed at the king.

"So?" Ben shrugged. "I'm the king." Evie didn't know how, but he somehow managed to make it sound so nonchalant when he said it. Whereas some would say that to rub it into others faces or excuse their actions, Ben passed it off as more of a joke.

"Yes, but that's my cake." Mal's eyes narrowed further a moment before she pounced on their boyfriend. Ben let out an undignified yelp before Mal landed atop him, the pair wrestling for the plate of cake. By some miracle, it wasn't falling from the plate during the struggle. Ben could out-muscle the fairy by leaps and bounds but Evie suspected they were having too much fun.

"Saw that one coming." Evie parroted watching the show while laughing her head off. Her own plate resting neatly on her lap as she took a bite. "Mmm... this is really good."

"I said it's mine."

"Nope, royal decree. Mine."

"Royal my foot, gimme."

Who needed gifts when you had true love? Evie wouldn't trade them for the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to finally get something back out there. I had to reinstall almost everything (including Word) so I suspect my spellchecking isn't working, I'm not sure. It seemed to be acting weird.
> 
> I'm wanting to do a jealous Ben, but I haven't figured out how to do it. If anyone has ideas I'd love to hear them. Really any ideas at all are extremely helpful.


	13. Winter Wonderland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully this did not take as long as my last few ones did. 
> 
> Enjoy.

"Where is she?" Jay hissed, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible.

"I don't know." Ben whispered back, eyes peering around the tree the boys were using for cover. "But she's around here somewhere.

The forest was quieter than death, not even insects or birds made a peep. Ben and Jay had to move with the utmost caution, the crunch of snow beneath their boots could reveal themselves to their hunter. Thanks to the silence of the woods, every sound was magnified.

That was the reason Carlos was no longer with them. The younger boy had bumped into a tree and all the snow in its branches fell with a loud thump. Needless to say he lasted less than five seconds after that. Ben and Jay only survived because they ran away as fast as they could while their companion met his end.

They would avenge Carlos later, but it would be difficult if they met the same fate.

Ben started to say something but Jay silenced him with a hand over his mouth. "Shh... you hear that?"

Ben couldn't respond with the impromptu gag, but he focused his ears for any trace of the sound Jay was talking about. Whatever it was, Ben wasn't hearing it at first.

After a few moments, Ben finally caught it. It was faint, probably from far away, but it sounded a lot like giggling. Maniacal, evil sounding giggling. Ben knew exactly who it belonged to, and hearing it chilled him more than the snow around them.

"Think we should go check it out?" Ben was able to mumble past Jay's hand.

"Hell no!" Jay looked at Ben as if he had grown a second head. "That's exactly what she wants."

"But what about Evie?"

Jay groaned. "Oh you are so going to get us killed..."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where is everyone?" Evie mused as she hiked through the snow.

Ever since they had split up, Evie had seen neither hide nor hair of the boys or Mal. She heard what might have been girlish screaming earlier, most likely Carlos or Jay were ambushed.

"Well hey there my princess."

Upon hearing these words, Evie turned around to find Mal leaning against a nearby tree with her arms folded. The biggest grin ever adorning the fairy's lips.

Evie was paralyzed, whether it was fear, excitement, or just hearing the nickname from Mal' voice. Perhaps it was all three, regardless Evie found herself unable to flee or even move as Mal stalked forth like a predator.

"H... hey there M." Evie smiled in spite of herself, Mal's presence tended to have that effect.

Mal's grin, like her walk, was predatory. "I've been looking all over for you Evie dear."

"Yeah?" Evie couldn't help herself when Mal's hands moved to her hips, Evie leaned into her fairy. The hands slowly moved around her until Evie was encircled by Mal's arms.

"Oh absolutely." Mal whispered in Evie's ear pulling her girlfriend close. "You see... I need your help with something."

"Anything." Evie might as well have been hypnotized as Mal leaned her face close to Evie's, their lips just barely a few inches apart. As much as Evie loved staring into the emeralds that were Mal's eyes, Evie found her eyes drifting closed the closer their lips came together.

"I need you to..." Mal moved her lips at the last second to Evie's ear. "Freeze".

Evie had no warning whatsoever when Mal dumped a huge handful of snow down the back of her coat. The screech that she made could have shattered glass with its intensity. Stumbling away, Evie frantically tried to get the snow out but when she got two steps away from Mal a snowball struck her hard in the stomach.

Mal cackled with glee. "Two down, two to go."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben and Carlos came to a stop just in time to see Evie go down from the snowball. Leaving them alone with their fairy huntress.

They would have slowly backed up and made a stealthy escape but as if sensing their presence, Mal turned her gaze upon the boys. "Ah hello boys."

"RUN!" Jay screamed as he grabbed Ben by the arm to flee.

Diving to the ground, the multiple snowballs flew over their heads missing them by mere inches. Scrambling to their feet, they sprinted as fast as their legs would allow.

Behind them, Mal raised and formed more snowballs accompanied by the green glow of magic. The spheres of snow orbiting around the fairy like moons around a planet. Every few seconds several of the snowballs would be sent flying at the retreating boys, but more would be formed just as swiftly as they were expended.

The only reason Ben and Jay even survived was due to their own athletic ability. The duo would duck and weave to dodge the missiles while moving among the trees for temporary cover. But Mal was every bit as physically fit as them, they would run but she was right behind them. Always with more projectiles at the ready.

Tripping on a root hidden in the snow, Jay face-planted into the snow. He rolled onto his back just in time to take four snowballs to the face.

"Just you and me Bennyboo, you can run but you can't hide!" Mal called after her boyfriend.

"Run Ben r..." Jay tried to yell but a fifth snowball hit in right in his open mouth, leaving him coughing and sputtering up the frozen water.

With Jay down, Mal simply ignored the fallen combatant as she gave chase to her boyfriend. She could focus all her effort on Ben, but the king of Auradon was more agile than he looked. It seemed nothing could trip him, each round of Mal's snow barrage kept missing.

"I thought we agreed no magic!" Ben ducked just in time for a snowball to splatter the tree behind him. Grabbing onto a branch, he swung himself around the truck before three more struck the solid wood.

"You agreed. I made no such promise." Mal replied, more snow spheres flying at Ben without mercy.

Eventually Mal cornered Ben against the side of a sheer cliff face. He could have made a sprint either way along the cliff, but with no cover he was completely exposed.

There was no escape.

A grinning Mal approached. "End of the line."

"Umm... I don't suppose this is where I get to have my last words?" Ben chuckled nervously, Ben knew that look in his girlfriend's eyes. It was a sight that always foretold doom.

"Ehhh... Nah." Mal didn't give her boyfriend time to even blink before she was smashing him with several dozen magically thrown snowballs.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay that was underhanded Mal!" Evie gently shoved her girlfriend while still trying to get the snow out of the back of her coat. "And you wern't supposed to use magic!"

"Totally worth it." Mal roared in laughter, so much so she was having trouble breathing and was doubled over. "The looks on your faces!"

Taking mercy on his girlfriend, Ben came over to Evie to fluff her coat. It was still freezing along her spine, but thanks to him she got most of the snow out. Mal might have gone a little overkill with how much she put down her back.

At least Evie hadn't been as bad as Ben. When Mal finally took him down and they came back to meet up with the others, the king practically looked like a snowman. Lucifer only knows how he looked before he dusted most of himself off.

Mal had certainly done a number on him. Then again, with Ben being the last one standing against the fairy, Mal probably wanted to end in style.

"Come on guys I want to take this new sled out!" Carlos and Jay ran past carrying a large multi-person sled over their heads. Evie wasn't sure why, but the sight was funny for some reason.

Back on the isle the weather was always at one setting, cloudy and chilly. Occasionally there would be a few warm days, but sun was something unheard of for the most part. That included almost all weather as well. Rain, sleet, snow, these were things the four had almost no experience with.

Suffice to say when winter finally came around and Ben found out about this he actually pulled a royal decree for the school to have a snow day. Mal was certainly proud of her partial corruption of their kingly boyfriend.

An argument could be made for it all being a selfish act, but anyone with half a brain could tell it was the opposite. This was all for the four of them, to get to experience the joy and fun of a snow day for the first time. Ben would have no problem working the whole day but Mal had been ready to drag him out here by his hair if she had to. Fortunately for Ben, that wasn't required.

A yell of excitement was the only hinting any of them had as Carlos and Jay flew down the hill on the new sled Ben got for the former.

"Watch our for the drift!"

"Whoa!"

By the time Evie, Ben, or Mal got over to the edge of the hill, the boys were already at the bottom. Well, crashed at the bottom was the more appropriate word. The sled was sticking out of the snow straight up right next to Jay whom was also sticking out of the snow. Beside him was Carlos flat on his back.

"You guys okay?" Evie yelled down the hill, worry already creeping into her thoughts. How on earth didn't she notice just how tall this hill was? She was standing less than ten feet away for crying out loud.

"That... was... awesome!" Carlos called from the bottom as Jay unstuck himself from the snowdrift. "Can we go again?"

Evie laughed, she couldn't help it when the relief flooded through her.

Coming up at her side, Ben moved an arm around Evie and Mal's waists pulling the girls close. "Yeah sure, but you two have to drag the sled back up here!"

At the bottom of the hill Jay and Carlos both looked to the wooden sled. They spoke in almost perfect unison. "Aw come on!"

First the boys had to pry the piece of wood loose, then they had to lug it all the way back up the hill. It was definitely a funny show for the three observers at the top.

Carlos was nearly bouncing up and down with excitement. Out of all of them, he was having the most fun with their little snow day. It warmed Evie's heart seeing the youngest of them so happy and carefree. Almost as if he never suffered at the cruel hands of his own mother.

It made Evie so happy seeing Carlos enjoying himself, but one thing did that and more. Of the many trips down the hill, Carlos wanted to ride with just Ben. If Ben noticed the significance of this, he didn't call attention to it. Instead going through with it without a second thought.

Seeing her little brother having fun and trusting in her boyfriend brought Evie more warmth than a dozen suns. Mal didn't say anything, but the way the fairy's hand found Evie's and squeezed told Evie she felt it too.

It took them forever to get Carlos to stop, he was having way too much fun. What finally did it was when he almost couldn't make the hike back up the hill. Upon reaching the top he collapsed in a heap saying he needed a break.

With Jay joining Carlos for his respite, that allowed the other three to take a ride together. Mal was at the front before anyone had a hope of stopping her. Evie took the spot in the middle while Ben sat behind her.

"Ready?" Mal grinned over her shoulder leaning back into Evie, whom was leaning back into Ben, whose arms were around the human girl. Ben's holds always were comfortable, they might actually have a hard time getting Evie off the sled.

Ben removed one arm for a moment to push them over the edge, his limb retaking its place around her.

This wasn't Mal's first turn with the sled, she had taken a turn with Carlos earlier, but it was Evie's. She had sat out the sledding so the younger boy could keep going. He was enjoying himself so much Evie couldn't bear to stop him.

Going downhill, the first thing to greet Evie was the sheer rush of cold air on her face. She'd never felt anything like it before and didn't know how to react. Ben must have felt her tense up, because next thing Evie knew his arms around her were tightening.

"Woohoo!" Mal cried out in elation as they sailed down. Evie might have been nervous, but the fairy was the reverse.

They must have been getting lucky on all their trips downhill since the first. They hadn't wrecked the sled since Carlos and Jay's ill fated first voyage. Whatever did it had gone unnoticed each trip.

Until Evie, Ben, and Mal's trip together.

The sled came near the bottom when it lurched and flipped sending all three flying in a heap. Since Mal was only leaning back against Evie, she was thrown off to the side. Evie however had been in Ben's hold right up until they crashed, making the king and his girlfriend land together.

"Stupid snow." Evie grumbled sitting up, only to realize she was sitting on top of Ben. He had moved them so that he would take the worst of the fall and she would be spared. The red on Evie's face quickly grew for reasons other than the cold.

"You okay?" Ben's face was red too, but the proximity to his girlfriend didn't leave him as tongue-tied as it did Evie.

Her lovable idiot just risked harm upon himself to protect her, the first thing he asks was if she was alright, and he looked at her like that. How on earth could Evie resist kissing him?

"Aww such a perfect moment." Mal dug herself from the snowdrift she landed in.

Unlike Evie and Ben's first kiss months ago, Evie didn't pull away in embarrassment. Instead she just waved a hand in the fairy's general direction as if saying 'quiet you', and went back to kissing her boyfriend in the snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Know what’s funny? This was supposed to be a playing in the snow prelude to the five having their first Christmas together. But the snow time was so long on its own I felt like it could be its own chapter. And thus this was created. 
> 
> Going from memory, I was able to reconstitute some of my lost work. So hopefully I’ll have another chapter and the M rated one done in the next week or two. I’ll be posting both at the same time to let all of you know what it’s title is. 
> 
> Reviews are what keeps me going, so let me know how I did or if you want to give a suggestion for a chapter. They are all greatly appreciated.


	14. Merry Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said previously, this was supposed to be added on to my last chapter but I felt the snow time was good enough on its own. Thus we get this one-shot by itself.
> 
> I know I said I'd be doing this and the M chapter at once but I have a problem where I cannot not publish a chapter when I've finished it. So I'm doing this one now and everyone (those who want to read it at least) will have to keep a sharp eye out for when I publish the M chapter. It will hopefully be in the next few days. I'm changing the title, but like this one it will have the prefix "Package Deal-" attached.
> 
> Enjoy.

Holidays on the Isle of the Lost were not that uncommon. Birthdays and the like were the most common. Halloween was quite popular, mostly because the more hardcore pranks were not only allowed but encouraged.

But this holiday, Evie hadn't even heard of before.

"What's Christmas?" Carlos was the first to voice his confusion when he, Mal, Jay, and Evie entered the cafeteria. They had been looking for Ben, whom was helping hang small objects on a tree in the large room. The king explained it was a tree for Christmas.

Upon seeing the big pine tree indoors, Evie was just as stumped as Carlos. She'd heard something about they were off the whole week on something called 'Christmas break' but at the time didn't know what that was all about.

Poor Ben looked like he'd just seen one of his girlfriends turn into a dragon like her mother. "Wait, surely you know what Christmas is?"

"Nope." Mal picked up a small red glass ball and examined it with her nose wrinkled. "Never heard of it. What do you guys like worship trees or something?"

"Uhh... no..." Ben stammered, completely blindsided by this new discovery. "Didn't you guys have holidays on he isle?"

"We did." Evie answered moving over to Ben's side to take his hand. "But maybe you would like to explain this one to us?"

Ben always took it so hard when he found out things they missed out on growing up. Evie could never forget how he reacted when he found out just how bad their food was. Everyone knew it was all but trash, but that was describing it mildly. When they told him, Ben almost flew into a rage toward his parents. Not just because his girlfriends had to live that way, but because of all of the children who lived there. It had taken Evie and Mal both to get him to calm down and not hunt his father down wherever he was.

Whenever Ben would discover another thing life forced them to skip, he would make it his personal goal to teach them. Not only did he enjoy doing it, but Evie felt as if it made him feel better about it all.

Just like right now, Evie could tell Ben was getting upset they never experienced whatever this Christmas was. Evie therefore gave him an out to teach them something new yet again.

One explanation later, all four former villains were even more confused. They certainly didn't have anything remotely like this Christmas back on the isle.

"So wait..." Jay began. "It's about giving and not getting stuff?"

"Sort of, it's become a bit more of a commercial holiday than it was originally but yeah that's the basis for the most part."

"But you still get presents?"

"Yes Jay."

"Cool!" Carlos shouted with glee. "It's like reverse Thief Day."

"Hey!" Jay frowned putting the smaller boy in a headlock. "That used to be one of my favorites back in the day."

At that Ben looked disturbed. Leaning over, he whispered to Evie. "Do I want to know?"

"No you do not." Evie whispered back in a clipped response.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And lastly, who could forget our favorite little guy?" Evie smiled handing over a neatly wrapped package to Carlos. At his side, Dude barked softly wagging his tail knowing the gift was for him.

Carlos tore the wrapping paper off to reveal a small doggy the perfect size for a dog of Dude's size. Evie had even personalized it by sewing a large D in the center of the bed itself.

The moment Carlos sat it down for the dog, Dude had jumped into it. Instead of laying down, he barked softly looking in Evie's direction.

"Oh how could I forget?" Leaning over to Dude, Evie petted him a few times and scratched behind his ear. That seemed to be more than enough, Dude yelped softly in thanks before snuggling down into the new bed.

Evie had to admit, turning away from evil and to go aside, there was something to be said for Christmas. Seeing the way Carlos eyes lit up when he received his monogrammed pillow and quilt set warmed Evie's heart like only Ben and Mal normally could.

For obvious reasons most of the four from the isle were exempt from their little gift exchange they shared with Ben. The king assured them there would be many more Christmases in the future they could do. Hearing that also served as a nice reminder they were here to stay and wouldn't ever be returning to the refuse pit they called a childhood home.

Evie was able to bypass the financial difficulty only thanks to her sewing and cooking skills. Using them she made various things for her loved ones. Like Carlos' blanket and pillow combo, Jay's new hat, and a plate of dragon shaped cookies for Mal. If Mal cared when everyone stole a couple the fairy didn't bring it up. Having seen a few being swiped coming, Evie made more than enough for five.

In a surprising generous gesture, Jay of all people was able to come up with a present for Ben. As unorthodox as it was. But, that was Jay for you.

"One free wish no strings attached." Ben read the piece of paper's sloppy handwriting. "So anything huh?"

"Ooh, that's pretty valuable." Carlos mumbled out through a mouthful of cookie.

"Almost priceless." Mal supplied. "I won one of them in a bet a few years back. He's not saying it, but he means anything at all and he can't refuse. What was it I used it for again Jay?"

Jay shivered. The son of Jafar and former master thief, actually shivered. "You had me clean out Maleficent's potion fridge. Ugh I still have nightmares from that thing."

"See Ben?" Mal grinned. "Can't say no."

Ben arched an eyebrow. "So if I tell him to dress up in the pinkest frilliest dress I can find and sing the school anthem in front of the entire school, he can't say no?"

Evie had never seen Jay go so pale, not even when facing down dragon Maleficent.

"Nope." Mal said with a pop, her grin one of pure evil. Evie didn't need to be able to read her fairy's thoughts to know she was impressed Ben could come up with something that evil. The old Mal would have been proud. Oh yes, more and more of her was rubbing off on him.

While Mal only smiled, Evie and Carlos were struggling for breath they were laughing so hard. No longer able to hold herself up, Evie fell against Ben for support, her eyes watering up.

"Please... oh please Ben." Carlos begged, hands in front of him in a matching gesture. "Make him do it. Please. Just let me go get Doug's video camera first."

"Now let's not be hasty." Jay chuckled nervously. "You're a good guy, a good king. You wouldn't do something like that to your best buddy right?"

"Hmm..." Ben rubbed his chin looking up at the ceiling as if weighing the options." Nah, I'll come up with something else."

"Oh thank Lucifer." Jay sighed in relief.

The rest of the evening passed fairly uneventful. They traded stories, Ben shared more information about his own childhood, including things about his own home life.

"So you weren't joking about that when we got here? Your dad really sheds that much?" Evie looked up at her boyfriend from where she was laying.

At some point in the discussion she had moved so that she was laying back against Ben's chest while his arms were wrapped loosely around middle. Not wanting to be left out, Mal leaned against Ben's side, her hand holding Evie's while her other arm snaked around Ben.

"No joke." Ben laughed himself at the memory. "My mom was always vacuuming and cleaning the carpets and couch. She threatened to burn his favorite easy chair if he didn't do something about it."

Ben was about to go further into detail when he was interrupted by Jay. "As much as I'd love to hear the rest of this juicy gossip, these two probably need to be heading back.

Following Jay's gaze, Evie saw Carlos had laid down on the floor using Jay's leg as a pillow. Only now he had fallen asleep during one of Ben's stories. Nestled close to his stomach was a slumbering Dude.

"Aww such sleepyheads." Evie cooed at the sight.

It took a little work to get their two youngest members awake. At least Carlos was able to get up, Dude was plain out. Jay had to carry the little dog, Carlos at least could walk on his own.

"Night ladies, night milord." Jay gave a dramatic bow, or at least as much of one as he could with a sleeping dog in his arms.

"Yeah night." Carlos mumbled following Jay out the door. Just because he was walking didn't mean awake he was awake.

Evie knew she and Mal should probably get going too. It was getting late but she wasn't tired, neither did she really want to leave. Maybe she could convince Mal to share a bed tonight for some Christmas cuddling.

"Finally, I thought they would never leave." Ben stood up, gently pushing Evie off him so he could do so. Stretching, he went over to a nearby dresser and opened it.

Watching him go, Evie was a little taken aback. That was an uncharacteristically mean thing for Ben to say. But Evie would always give her boyfriend the benefit of the doubt. There must be a reason for him to act in such a way.

Come to think of it, what was he getting out of his dresser?

After Evie's attention was snatched by a sharp whistle, Mal handed her a small square box in wrapping paper. Evie had expected Ben to spoil her somehow, but she hadn't expected anything from Mal. Not that she needed anything when she could call these two amazing people her lovers.

As Evie tore the paper off, she had a few ideas. Mal had some money, people paid quite a bit for simple and quick hair makeovers after all. But knowing her fairy, the gift was likely something she made using her artistic skills. It could even be...

Evie's thought train skidded to a halt when she beheld the item. It was a photo in a simple cheap silver frame. The kind you could get from the store for a few dollars. But the picture itself almost took Evie's breath away.

"I told you precious memories." Mal grinned in triumph while Evie could only stare at the image.

"What is it?" Ben returned to look over Evie's shoulder only to flush when he saw it. "Oh."

The photo was one of Evie and Ben standing outside the girl's room, Evie remembered they had been waiting for Mal at the time, locked in a tender embrace and lost in each others lips. While Evie certainly couldn't forget her and Ben's first kiss, she hadn't expected the picture to ever show up again. Especially not in a conveniently sized frame perfect for her bedside table.

"Pretty good Mal, but I've got one too. I was going to give this to you earlier, but I wanted to wait until it was just us three." Ben offered Evie the large envelope. Once she accepted it, he took a seat in front of her.

Looking over at Mal only awarded Evie only with a shrug and a curious look. Whatever it was, Mal didn't know herself. Now Evie was intrigued, Ben almost didn't know how to keep secrets from his girls. Not to mention they were kind of masters at getting their boyfriend to talk.

Opening the envelope, Evie found two neatly written documents. One bearing the royal seal, the other a signature Evie never expected. Eyes scanning over the entirety of the pages, Evie felt her heart nearly stop. She had to read them over an additional two times before it finally sunk in.

"This... this is..." Evie struggled to form words, her throat had closed off.

"It took a little bit of work." Ben explained, sounding surprisingly nervous. "I was planning on getting it done even before I found out you four didn't know what Christmas was. So I hope I did pretty good at your first ever Christmas present."

"Let me see." Mal at first just leaned over to read them but when Evie froze up, she had to gently pry them from her girlfriend's fingers and read the papers for herself.

"I'm... a real princess?" Evie forced out.

"Almost." Ben smiled warmly. "All that's left is for you to sign the last paper and we send it off. But you can't thank just me. I got the wheels moving, but I couldn't have done it without Snow White's help."

The aforementioned signature was that of Snow White. The paper itself was an adoption certificate, the only thing missing was Evie's own signature of approval. The document with the royal seal was legal legitimization of Evie's royalty in the family of Snow White.

"So this means Snow White will legally adopt you as her sister and you'll be part of her family. I already took it up with the heralds and got the royal authorization passed on ahead." Evie had connected the dots on her own, but actually hearing Ben say it out loud somehow made it more real.

"You did... all this for me Ben?" Evie sniffled, tears already threatening to fall. This was something she had dreamed about for longer than she could remember but never thought it could possibly happen. Not for many, many years at least. "All I did for you two was bake a bunch of cookies..."

In fact, Mal's nickname for Evie was originally the fairy's attempt to console her about her fake royalty. Now here she was, a single signature away from actual honest to goodness royalty.

Whether in joy or affection for her boyfriend, Evie still couldn't figure out why her heart hadn't blasted right out of her ribs like a cannon. Either that was going to happen or she would faint. Evie really hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of her lovers by fainting.

"Of everyone I know, I don't know any more deserving of the title princess."

"E?" When Evie didn't respond to Ben, Mal moved to sit on her knees beside Evie. Draping an arm around the girl's shoulders, Mal waved a hand in her girlfriend's face. "Anyone home E?"

Evie surprised Ben and Mal both when she launched herself forward right into Ben, throwing her arms around his neck in a bone-crushing embrace. Ben tried to catch her, but she was too fast and knocked the king onto his back with her on top of him.

The tears of pure joy were falling rapidly now, irreparably smearing Evie's mascara. But she couldn't make herself care whatsoever. All Evie could do was bury her face in Ben's neck repeating her thanks between sobs.

Ben just smiled and gently rubbed her lower back, letting her cry herself out. "But you'll still always be Mal's princess."

"Hey, haven't I told you before? Our princess." Mal corrected, her hand reaching out to join Ben's on Evie's back.

"I love you two..." Evie sniffled, her sobs finally dying down.

"Love you guys too Evie." Ben kissed the crown of Evie's head.

"Ditto my princess." Mal hugged Evie from behind once she and Ben were sitting back up, Mal's chin resting on Evie's shoulder so she could look at Ben too.

Letting out a soft yawn, Evie groaned. "It's getting late... we should be heading back."

"Hey Bennyboo... this Christmas break thingy lasts a few more days right?" There was Mal's devious smirk again. But Evie did like where she was going with this...

"Yeah why?"

"Good. We're not going anywhere, are we E?"

"Nope." Evie's smile widened considerably.

"Well then in that case..." Ben acted before Evie could even get a word in. Before she knew it, Ben had swept her off her feet and lifted her into his arms to carry her over toward his bed.

"Hey! I wanna get carried." Mal put on her best fake pouty and whiny voice, even throwing in an actual pout while she was at it. "No fair."

Evie shifted her position so she could look over Ben's shoulder at Mal. "A princess need never walk. Besides, I was here first." While Mal enhanced her words with a pout, Evie stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend instead.

"I can carry you next time Mal..." Ben had made the mistake of taking his attention away from their fairy while he was setting Evie down on the mattress. Evie thought they would have learned not to do that by now but it was a lesson they'd probably never learn.

"Dogpile!" Mal cried out a second before she jumped and crashed into Ben's back. Sending him falling down into the bed right beside Evie, who rolled aside before he could land on her.

With all three now in the bed together, Mal took hold of Evie's arm and pulled her over to herself and Ben. Not actually wanting to resist, Evie all too happily snuggled closer to her lovers. Evie's smile could have lit up the night when Mal's arms wrapped around her, while Ben's hand reached around their fairy to take hers.

They still needed to actually get ready for bed... but Evie was in no rush to get up. Not when she rested in such a heavenly place, and the mattress was nice too.

"How was my girls' first Christmas?" Ben squeezed Evie's hand.

"Awesome." Mal responded first.

"Best holiday ever." Evie agreed. "Oh isn't there something else you're supposed to say? Umm..." Evie struggled to remember what it was Ben had told them earlier. It was a special greeting for this particular holiday.

"Merry Christmas." Ben answered for her.

"Yes that's it!" Evie blushed, embarrassed at having forgotten something so simple. "Merry Christmas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a couple new ideas for more chapters, among them one where out triad goes on vacation somewhere but I don't know where and what they would do. Another involves one of the three being sick and the others taking care of them. If anyone has any suggestions for chapters or things they would like to see with those two prompts let me know please.
> 
> And lastly thank you so much to all those who take the time to leave comments. Seeing as how all of your are some of the few people who don't think I'm wasting my time, each of your comments are extremely valuable. Maybe more than you know. I'd have ended the original package deal after only a couple chapters if it hadn't been for the kind words of my readers.
> 
> I never expected to go this far, but then again I never expected as a 23 year old guy I'd be writing in the Disney realm of fandom. But hey, when we follow the trail of the written word, we never know where the adventure will take us. So onward we march my fellow readers/writers, our journey is nowhere near its end.


	15. Mother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to have this and the M chapter done days ago. I don't get sick often but when it hits, it hits hard. My mind has been fried for almost a week no matter how hard I tried to focus it into words.
> 
> Anyway, I am posting this chapter and the M chapter at the same time so that those of you not following my username will know the latter us now up. Look for a story titled "Package Deal: A Magical Night".
> 
> So either my Christmas chapter was abysmal, or people just didn't feel like leaving reviews. Either way hopefully this one will be better. We have another future scene like the chapter 'Down the Road'.
> 
> Enjoy.

Mal was not freaking out or anything. Oh no, not at all. She could handle this, yeah no problem. She was the daughter of freaking Maleficent for crying out loud! She may have chosen good, but her mother was mistress of all evil. This this was going to be no...

Aww who was Mal kidding? She was way past 'freak out' now and was about to graduate into full blown panic.

"Come on Violet calm down." Mal urged but the screaming bundle in her arms wasn't interested in listening, and no amount of rocking was solving the problem. Sure the baby's yells were deafening but Mal had had worse suffering inflicted on her ears in the past.

The part that had Mal so unnerved was that the yelling implied something was wrong. The fairy had read up on every book concerning motherhood that she could find, just so she'd be ready for anything. And now all that collected knowledge was flying right out the window in the face of the real thing.

Mal couldn't even figure out what was wrong with her own baby girl! Some mother she was...

"Wow, need some help M?" As far as Mal was concerned, the arrival of Evie was like an angel coming down to deliver salvation, this was maybe even better.

The other queen of Auradon eased her way into the room, a similar bundle in her own arms to the one Mal was holding. But unlike Violet, Lily was perfectly calm and quiet. It was definitely no shocker to Mal. Evie was like the perfect mom, she always knew what to do and the answer to everything. In the months leading up to now when Mal would forget something, all she had to do was ask Evie and she'd have her answer in less than a second.

Lily might even be asleep, but if her sister didn't stop screaming that wasn't going to last long.

Mal was actually a little surprised to see her wife here. Evie had been released from the hospital a few days before when Lily was born. She was supposed to be, on doctor's orders, at home resting. But then again Mal did figure that unless they tied her up, Evie was going to show up before long.

"How the hell do you do it?" Mal winced when her voice came out a lot more hostile than she intended. Didn't help she had to almost yell over her daughter. "Sorry... I just don't know what to do..."

"It's okay M." Evie was unperturbed by her wife's tone. Sitting in the chair at Mal's bedside Evie adjusted her hold on Lily. "Just talk to her, she won't understand but she wants to hear the sound of your voice."

Surely it wasn't that easy? Mal had tried talking to her baby girl but it hadn't been doing any good before. Maybe she hadn't been doing it enough... or loud enough for that matter.

"It's okay Violet, mommy's right here." Mal continued gently rocking her daughter in the hopes it would help too. "It's okay, look your other mom and sister is here too." At this Mal shifted Violet so that she could see Evie and Lily.

Evie grinned and did a little wave with her spare hand then moved Lily so that babies could see each other.

Mal continued on saying anything and everything she could think of a baby would want to hear. It took what felt like forever but eventually Violet stopped crying and fell asleep.

"Oh thank Lucifer." Mal sighed in relief.

At Mal's side Evie was beaming in pride. "I knew you could do it M. Why don't we set Violet down so you can rest? You have to still be exhausted."

Mal hesitated for a moment before clutching Violet closer to her and uttering a single word. "No."

Evie's smile didn't fade, only grew. "You don't want to ever put her down do you?"

Mal shook her head.

Evie laughed, quietly so as to not wake Violet and Lily. "Same here." Looking down, Evie lightly tickled Lily's tiny hand. "The nannies offered to take her for the day over three times but I kept turning them down. No daughter of mine is getting pawned off onto somebody else just because I'm a little tired."

"Yeah." Mal bit her lip. Violet was calm once more, but the nervousness in the pit of her stomach didn't go away. She was going to mess something up badly, Mal could just feel it. Eventually she would screw things up, she probably wasn't cut out to be a mother...

"M, look at me." Even without the marriage bond, Evie would have been able to sense Mal's unease. When the fairy did so, she was met with the soft comforting gaze of her wife. "We are not our mothers."

We are not our mothers.

Mal had lost count how many times Evie had repeated those exact words to her in the last nine months. But regardless of the number of repeats, it still made Mal feel infinitely better. Part of Mal would always be afraid she would be every bit as worse as Maleficent, but Evie never let her think that way for long. Neither did Ben, speaking of their husband...

"You hear from Ben yet?" Mal questioned.

"Yeah, with us on maternity leave he's getting swamped with everything he normally does plus what we do." Evie answered. "He's about to start threatening dungeon time if they don't give it a break so he can see us."

The trio had planned the births to be roughly the same time. So Ben was able to be present during the worst of Evie's by brushing his work off. Their husband was also able to stay with the day old Lily for a time. The plan went downhill shortly after Violet was born. Ruling a country can only be put off for so long. Almost right after Violet was born he had to leave and hasn't been able to come back. The man had just enough time to hold his second daughter for a little while, and zero time to be with his recovering wives.

Mal knew the difference between bad and good and that was just not right. The fairy was going to be having a chat with the council once she got back, a potentially loud and unpleasant chat. They were at least willing to listen to reason sometimes. Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to get the 'king at sixteen' and 'married at seventeen' laws repealed.

The irony was not lost on Mal. If it wasn't for those ridiculous laws, neither she, nor Evie, nor Ben would be in this situation in the first place. Chances are Mal and the others would still be on the Isle of the Lost, and Mal may not have gotten married to the love's of her life. But that didn't make the laws fair. And as Ben once said, "no child of mine is going to be forced into the throne at only sixteen".

"Do you want to hold Lily?" Evie's offer pulled Mal's mind back to reality. Mal was all too happy to accept.

As gentle as possible so they wouldn't wake the infants, Mal handed Violet to Evie and vice versa with Lily. With the other baby girl in her arms, Mal held her every bit as close as Violet. It wasn't the first time she got to hold Lily, but Mal had gone into labor shortly after Violet was born so she hadn't been able to for long.

Looking over at her wife, Mal could see, and hear, Evie humming softly as she smiled down at Violet. It warmed her heart like no other to see her baby girl and her princess together.

If one was being a stickler for details, Violet and Lily were only half-sisters. Both girls having Ben for their father but Mal and Evie respectively for mothers.

At the end of the day that was all crap to Mal. Watching Evie with Violet now, Mal could tell that meant nothing. Violet made not be from Evie's own blood and flesh, but that didn't stop her from being the girl's mother. Every bit that it didn't stop Mal from being Lily's mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all think.
> 
> I have honestly no idea what scene to do after this one so we'll just have to see what comes next.


	16. Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, once again I have returned after spending a while away away from fanfiction in general. Truth be told I'm not sure how many people are even watching this story anymore. Reviews were getting fewer and fewer the last several chapters (or maybe that was my imagination). So here is one more chapter, depending on how many reviews I get on it, I'll be able to know if anyone is still reading. If there are enough people still awaiting new chapters, I'll see what I can do to keep going. If not, then we have reached the end of Package Deal.
> 
> At least maybe until Descendants 2 comes out, but we'll see.
> 
> I remember a few people making comments about how my chapter 5 had a brunette Evie but blond Mal was only mentioned. Some of you wished to have actually seen it. Wish granted.
> 
> Either way, enjoy.

"Gotta say Ben, this is devious. Coming from you at least." Mal grinned like a maniac as she dashed into the bathroom. The fairy couldn't yank her dress off fast enough. "I love it!"

The garment was already partway off by the time she even reached the door, causing a deeply flushed Ben to turn around in embarrassment.

Evie could only roll her eyes at their girlfriend. While she was a little perturbed Mal was ruining Evie's hard work, she honestly didn't care. Mal was already perfect without Evie having to do so much as brush her hair. Seeing Mal all excited was far better than going to some dumb party.

Mal never liked going to these lavish parties held by the court. The only time she tolerated them was if Evie and Ben were going to attend.

Mal would then fight tooth and nail against Evie's 'beautification routine' as Mal called it. As flawless as Mal was, there were certain things one had to do when appearing at an event on the arm of a king. Like having to wear a dress, much to Mal's chagrin.

When Ben arrived at their door, Evie was horrified. He would always come pick them up so they could arrive together. But this time he had shown up early and Evie had only finished getting Mal ready, she hadn't even started on herself. Evie had started on a tangent about how sorry she was and that while Mal had dragged her heels during the whole thing, it was her fault not Mal's.

Ben had laughed it off and after getting her to calm down, explained everything. She really should have realized when their boyfriend wasn't wearing one if his usual suits but instead wore simple khakis and a button up shirt.

Apparently they were not going to the ball. Ben had decided to skip the event and take his girls out on a date instead. Yes, that Ben. King of Auradon, pure hearted and perfect follow-the-rules Ben was bailing on a party he was supposed to be attending.

Evie wasn't sure if she was supposed to swoon at the idea or scold her boyfriend for bad behavior. Whichever it was, Evie was deeply touched by the gesture nonetheless.

Since Evie had spent so much time preparing Mal, Evie was still in her clothes from their day off earlier. All she had to do to get ready for a night out was grab her jacket.

After she donned her own, Evie picked up Mal's jacket from the nearby table and tossed it over to the door just as Mal came striding out of the threshold. The fairy caught it without missing a beat and had in on in less than a heartbeat.

"What are we waiting on? Let's go before we get busted." Mal had no such dilemmas.

"I haven't even said where we're going."

"Don't care Ben. I'd much rather go out away from all the court crap."

"Same here." Evie agreed. Sure she may love dancing and actually enjoys herself at the parties, but time out of the public eye with her lovers instead? There was no contest which was better. "But where are we going anyway?"

"A carnival." Ben answered. "There's one in town for the next week or two and I remember you two haven't gotten to go to a real one yet."

Unlike some things, Evie and Mal did know what a carnival was. They just had never been to one. The closest they came was a couple of old rides and attractions back on the isle. None of which actually worked, and all of which were in horrible condition. 'Useless among even an island of scavengers' was an apt description.

All the girls had to go on were stories of bright lights, candy made of clothes that tried to eat you, giant spinning wheels of death, and monstrous clowns that terrorized children. Evie was pretty sure at least some of that was made up though. Come on, bright lights? How could something so mundane exist among these nasty things?

At least this was what all four of the ex-villains used to believe. Ben had yet to be able to show them one, but he did explain the basics of carnivals. Evie was quite excited to try out his cotton candy he mentioned. Although it took Ben forever to convince her that yes cotton was in the name, but that didn't mean it was the same stuff people make shirts from.

Getting to see a carnival in person, and have it be a date at the same time? Perfection.

"Uh... one problem Ben." Naturally Mal had to ruin it, not that it was her fault. "You're going to need more than a hat to keep a low profile. People are going to know their king."

"And me and M kinda stand out too." Evie supplied pointing to their respective blue and lavender tresses.

Ben groaned under his breath, rubbing his chin in thought. After a brief delay, the king snapped his fingers grinning in triumph. "I got it. Evie, remember that masquerade ball a while back?"

"How could I forget." Evie giggled at the memory of scaring away all of Ben's would-be suitors. It had been a fun evening. "But I don't see how it..."

"Ohhhh..." Mal and Evie both sounded in unison as they figured it out.

"So..." Mal clapped her hands once. "What color we going with?"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A while later, the trio arrived at the gates of the carnival. Showing up at the front door in a limo would have been counterproductive, so Ben had the driver drop them off a couple blocks away.

Just as they were hoping, nobody figured out who they were. It wasn't until they arrived that it occurred to Evie they might want to use fake names, perhaps she could use something with an S... Nobody asked so far, maybe it wouldn't be necessary.

"Ugh... Can't believe I'm blonde..." Mal groused as she pinched one of her now golden strands of hair, eyes glaring with pure malice.

"Aww Mal you look gorgeous." A brunette Evie reached around Ben to take her fairy's hand and give it a slight kiss. Evie chose her color, having liked it after the masquerade ball. Not as much as her usual teal, but she had to admit, brown didn't look so bad.

Ben and Mal on the other hand, had chosen at complete random. Leading to a blonde Mal, and a raven haired Ben. Mal was told she could change it, but the fairy didn't want to waste anymore time than they had to.

The hair change by itself wouldn't have been enough to avoid detection in Ben's case, but his penchant for constantly wearing suits all the time worked out for once. People were so used to seeing him in such proper clothes, Evie doubted anyone would know what he looked like out of one. The black hair was just an added precaution.

Compromises made by Ben and the girls were a necessity. Otherwise they'd be spotted instantly and their date ruined. Such as the signet rings on either girls fingers. Nobody at Auradon Prep had brought it up to either, but the metal bands never came off, ever. And they weren't about to start tonight. Good thing the rings when turned upside down resembled simple ordinary pieces of jewelry.

"If I hear one blonde joke I swear to Lucifer..." Mal grumbled.

"Purple's better, but you look great with either Mal." Ben took a turn reassuring their girlfriend when the fairy refused to relent.

They had to take things a little slow, there were so many new things for the girls to experience that they didn't know where to start. Thankfully their boyfriend was such a patient guide for them to follow.

An hour and a half in, they still were not recognized. They received more than a few odd looks here and there. There were assorted couples all around them, but Evie knew they were the only triad. To people not used to it, it must seem odd to see three people acting so close.

After they were sure their disguises were holding up, the three became open with their affection like they normally were. One of them was always holding on to one of the other two at all times, whether it was an arm or a hand. Quick kisses were just as common as usual.

Evie had long ago grown completely immune to strange looks and hushed whispers. Let the people talk, let the people stare, let society frown upon what they had. That was all any of these strangers could do. The only people who's views mattered to Evie were the god and goddess at her side.

Nobody else in the world had a Ben and a Mal, their loss.

"So I'm not eating somebody's sweater or something?" Mal's voice pulled Evie back to the here and now. The fairy held a clear bag of red fluff, eyeing it with suspicion.

Ben laughed and held up a matching bag but this one with blue fluff. "No, Mal. See watch." Ben took a handful of the fluff from the bag and plopped it into his mouth. After a few moments he swallowed the strange substance. "See? Cotton candy, it's good. Trust me."

Those last two words were all Evie needed to hear.

"Let me see." Evie took a small piece from Ben's bag before either king or fairy could speak. The stuff was somehow sticky, yet fluffy.

If Ben said it was good, it must be. Evie put the tiny fragment she took in her mouth without hesitation. She was initially caught off guard when the material melted on her tongue in a rush of blueberry sweetness.

Evie's eyes lit up like a shooting star, her voice making a sound that was most certainly unladylike. Forgetting to ask permission, Evie snatched the entire bag from Ben's hands before devouring a much larger piece. A third coming to her mouth even before she was done swallowing.

Ben, all too happy to have his snack stolen, smiled. "See Mal? Told you it's good."

Finally after watching a now deeply blushing Evie pause to take a breath, Mal took a bite of her own. Never one to really care about manners, Mal attacked her cotton candy with even more fury than Evie did.

Ben laughed all the way back to the food stand to get more. "Glad to see you enjoying it, but might want to ease up. Too much will give you a stomachache."

"Yeah yeah." Mal snatched the bag from their boyfriend's hand but did give him a kiss on the cheek. Not that it made up for the fact she was clutching the fuzzy treat close to her chest as if it were some sacred holy relic.

Shaking her head, Evie took her own from their boyfriend with a heartfelt thanks. Making it clear at the same time Ben could have all he wanted.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I am not getting in that thing." Mal glared daggers at the tall construct. "They're deathtraps."

The spinning wheel of death or as Ben called it, a ferris wheel, was next on their list. They certainly didn't look like what Evie had been expecting. There were a lot less spikes and flames than she thought. It certainly looked harmless.

"Who would have thought?" Ben's lips lifted in a grin far too much like one Mal would use. "The great Mal afraid of heights."

Mal's head whipped around so that her glare could focus on Ben instead. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Then prove it."

"Okay fine! I will." Mal hissed before stomping toward the ferris wheel. She made it three steps before she stopped in her tracks and wheeled around. Evie was going to ask what it was before the fairy grabbed both Ben's hand and Evie's and dragged them with her. "If I'm riding the deathtrap you're coming with me."

"Not a problem. Evie?" Ben's eye turned to his other girlfriend.

"Uh... yeah sure." Evie smiled though her own nerves. While less vocal, Evie was no less worried about the ferris wheel.

Evie had already gotten over the stories of the 'wheels of death'. With each moment they spent at the carnival, Evie saw more and more how utterly ridiculous everything she'd ever heard about carnivals was. There were indeed bright lights everywhere, but cotton candy was a delicious snack, some of the rides were actually pretty fun, and clowns were indeed for children. But instead of tormentors, they were entertainers. They were pretty good at it too if the little ones Evie had seen were to be believed.

Where Evie's nerves began to act up wasn't the ferris wheel itself, but the height. Of the ramshackle buildings on the isle, none were very tall. Two, maybe three, stories at most. But the ferris wheel was far larger than that. Evie didn't know how she'd react to being so high up.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Mal no doubt wouldn't figure out she was being goaded until they were already in the air.

Mal climbed into the caged box and flopped herself down unceremoniously into the first seat, arms folded and trying her hardest to make herself look tough. Ben took the seat across from her, completely at ease and with a smug grin of victory.

Evie was left with a conundrum, where was she supposed to sit? She always hated situations like this. Sitting beside either would show favoritism, something all three did their absolute best to avoid. They always reassured Evie it wasn't something to worry about but that didn't stop her from doing so.

The problem solved itself when Ben took her hand and gently pulled the girl to sit beside him. All the while Mal glared so hard at the floor, Evie wondered if a hole was going to burn through it.

Evie nearly jumped from her skin when she felt the first jerk of the cage as it started to move. Just as Evie started to worry, she felt a gentle squeeze of her hand. Ben not only hadn't let go, but had laced their fingers together.

That was why Ben wanted her to sit beside him. He might even have been doing the same for Mal, but their fairy was being her usual stubborn self. Evie loved the girl dearly, but sometimes she needed some sense shaken into her.

Even as the cage rose, Mal didn't take her eyes from the floor. Her arms again folded across her chest and a sneer on her face. Evie knew that look well enough. It was the I'm-not-really-mad-but-I-want-to-look-mad one Evie had seen countless times before. It also overlapped with Mal's hatred of showing vulnerabilities. That's when it was usually used in Evie's experience.

"Hey, look over that way." Ben gently nudged Evie at the same time he tapped Mal's leg with his foot. "The show's about to start."

"What sho..." Evie was cut off by the first loud pop followed by a bang. Fearing the worst she let out a screech and all but jumped into Ben's lap, clutching at her boyfriend in fright.

Mal made not a sound, but the way she was startled to attention was the next closest thing.

But the falling of the cage never happened. They were still sitting there close to the top of the wheel, but what had that noise been...

Evie got her answer when she happened to be looking in the proper direction when the sound came back. In the distance she saw a bright cluster of multicolored light appear in the starless night sky. Wait... was that a butterfly?

"What the..." Mal began but like Evie a moment ago was cut short with another blast of light and sound. This time the lights came in the shape of a flower.

"Oh fireworks." Evie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry to spook you guys, I wanted it to be a surprise." Ben wheezed. "Um... Evie? Do you mind?"

"Huh what? Oh!" Evie turned scarlet upon realizing she was not only still in Ben's lap, but had a death grip around his neck. It was a wonder the girl hadn't strangled him.

"You know, I never really paid that much attention before." Mal moved away from the middle to sit closer to the edge of the cage so she could watch the fireworks through the bars. "But they do look pretty cool."

Climbing from Ben's lap, Evie joined her girlfriend at the edge so she could watch the spectacle too. The explosions were growing in intensity. The dazzling flashes brighter, more colors shining across the empty canvas of the sky.

"Yeah, the view is pretty go..."

"Really Ben?" Mal didn't take her eyes from the fireworks, but Evie could practically hear the arch of her eyebrow. "You're really going with that corny line?"

"Actually, I was talking about the view down below. You can see the whole carnival from up here." Ben shifted seats so he was behind Mal now.

"That's bull and you know it." Mal lightly swung an elbow behind her in an attempt to hit Ben in the stomach. Even doing it blind, the fairy managed to do so. "You can be so corny sometimes."

"Well I think it's romantic." Evie supplied from across the way.

"Well duh it is my princess." Mal looked over her shoulder, revealing the wide smile she was sporting. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Doesn't make it any less cheesy though."

Ben simply laughed and planted a kiss to Mal's shoulder.

Evie couldn't have wished for a better date. It did occur to her a couple times however that once they got back there might be hell to pay. They did skip out on a public event after all. But one look at Mal and Ben just reminded Evie how it was all worth it and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this is up to my usual standards. I've gotten even more reclusive lately and haven't written a single thing in months. Even my novel has been full stopped for now.
> 
> As I said previously whether I continue from here is dependent on my readers. Otherwise I might not add anymore until Descendants 2. But as always suggestions are very much welcome.


	17. A Watery Grave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I noticed Descendants 2 (which I have not been able to watch yet) is finally out. That one snuck up on me, I thought it would be longer until it was available. Seeing as how the new movie might reenergize the fandom, I figured I might revisit my first triad.
> 
> The reason I stopped updating this was because I ran out of ideas. Well, I recently had an idea for something mentioned in a previous chapter. Specifically, Swimming Lessons version 2 (the darker one). Evie and Mal once mentioned that Evie almost died back on the isle, and that was the reason Evie was so terrified of the water. How about we have another flashback to the isle?
> 
> Enjoy.

"How did I get roped into this." A fifteen-year-old Mal scowled at the passersby's weird looks. It improved Mal's dour mood just a little to watch them scurry away like rats.

"Because I'm here, and you're escorting me." Evie hugged her girlfriend from behind for the briefest of moments. Not long enough for either, but they were in public, a certain discretion was required. "Who else would you trust my safety to? Jay?"

"Hell no." Mal snapped, but her face softened after feeling Evie's touch. Such was the power Evie held over the daughter of Maleficent. "I trust my princess' safety to nobody but myself."

"Aww, thanks." Evie, after making sure nobody was looking, planted a soft kiss to Mal's cheek before speeding off once again.

Mal's scowl returned once again, but for different reasons. She so hated the way their relationship worked, all the hiding and masked affection. Were Mal not so terrified of her mother, and only within Mal's mind would she ever admit to that, she would take Evie right to the middle of the Isle of the Lost and kiss her until everybody got the message who the blue haired girl belonged to.

That was only fantasy, unfortunately. Maleficent was too powerful, too evil, for even Mal to risk incurring her wrath. Not that Mal cared about herself, her concern was what would happen to Evie if she and Mal's relationship was brought to light.

If they could somehow escape the island, then maybe…

"What do you think, Mal?" Evie reappeared once more, this time with two tubes of what Mal assumed was lipstick. Evie said something else, probably the names of the colored junk, but the words went right over Mal's head.

"Uh… that one." Mal pointed to the one she thought would look better on the other girl. Not that she was exactly an authority on the matter, but Evie still asked Mal's opinion regardless.

"Thanks." Evie beamed and vanished once more.

Mal sighed and, for likely the millionth time, wished Evie didn't care so much about this… garbage. Okay, some of it was literally garbage, but the bulk of the load had been used beauty products. Such barges came in every once in a while, but certain individuals always clambered over them more than the even rarer fruit barges.

Back in the day, Evil Queen would be out here herself picking through. Not so much picking through, as ordering others to do the picking while she watched and pointed stuff out. When Evie grew old enough, the girl was sent in Evil Queen's stead. Except nobody would listen to Evie, so she was reduced to going through the thing herself. Oddly enough, she didn't seem to care.

Evie always made sure to pick up some of the best choice items for her mother, but most of her haul was for Evie alone. The first few times, Evie tried to get some items for Mal. The fairy had crushed that illusion immediately, she didn't do makeup. Evie, who held the title of only-person-in-the-world-who-could-convince-Mal-of-anything, respected her girlfriend's wishes and kept makeup at a safe minimum distance.

It always disgusted Mal how Evie thought she needed all these pastes and chemicals to look beautiful. Evie was the prettiest girl in the world, and nobody dared deny that in Mal's presence, secret girlfriend or no. Evie just couldn't see being attractive without gallons of paint on her face.

Mal never did try to hide her hatred of cosmetics, but she long ago ceased trying to convince Evie to stop using them. It was one of the few things the girls had ever fought about, but even remembering it brought a bitter taste to the fairy's mouth. Such a stupid, childish thing to fight about.

Ever since, Evie and Mal had come to an agreement. Mal wouldn't harass Evie about her makeup, but Evie wouldn't bring up Mal's hatred of the stuff. The system worked, for now.

Despite her hatred of cosmetics, Evie still regularly asked Mal's opinion on her choices. It had taken Mal an embarrassingly long time to figure out why. Evie didn't wear makeup to make herself beautiful to herself, it was to make herself beautiful to others. One person in particular, her girlfriend.

Ironic? Absolutely. Then again, the daughters of Maleficent and Evil Queen were secret lovers. Such was the life of Evie and Mal.

Part of the reason Mal was here could be laid at Evie's feet. She had all but begged her girlfriend to come with her to the harbor for her rummaging. Not that Evie actually had to beg Mal to get her way, the fairy was going to come alone no matter what Evie said or did, but Evie didn't have to know that. The other reason, the main reason, was so that Mal could look after her overly excited girlfriend.

Being a close companion of Mal, in the eyes of the other denizens of the isle, brought a lot of security to Evie's life. Most were too frightened of Mal to so much as look at the human girl, exactly what Mal preferred. Not everybody was afraid of Mal though, not to mention those whose marbles were not exactly all there. Then there were the more natural dangers of being so close to the harbor itself.

All in all, Mal thought Evie wasn't safe as long as she was here, and Mal would be damned if she was letting her girlfriend be anywhere near danger without Mal being right there with her. Perhaps she was being a little paranoid, but Evie was hers. Paranoia came with the deal.

A commotion from ahead caught Mal's attention.

Somebody was yelling something, but Mal couldn't hear over the crowd. Neither could Mal see just what was happening for the same reason. At first, Mal was getting worried, until she saw the unique head of hair belonging to Evie.

Most likely, a few of the resident fashionistas were getting into yet another fist fight. Hmm… that made today's tally up to seven. Surprising, usually there were a lot more by now. Oh well, as long as Evie wasn't a part of it, and Mal could see she wasn't, Mal was content to let the contenders duke it out.

At least that was until Mal realized the crowd was running away from the dock, instead of toward the fight to make bets as was the custom. People were all but throwing each other to the ground in their haste to get away.

"Huh." Mal peered through the gaps between the moving bodies. "Little early to send the riff raff off."

It took Mal far longer than she would have liked to notice Evie's familiar blue locks were nowhere to be found. The fairy immediately pushed herself off the wall to get closer to what was happening, her gaze snapping every direction in search of her girlfriend.

"Anybody see where she went?" Mal felt her heart nearly skip a beat when she heard the people on the dock talking.

"Nah, wood gave way. If she hasn't come up by now, the girl's fish food."

"Too bad, she was a pretty one."

Mal took stock of several things at once in a whirl of thought.

A chunk of the dock broken exactly where Mal had seen Evie not so long ago. People mentioning a pretty girl having fallen in the bay. A cluster of bubbles in the water near said broken dock.

Mal stared at the old and rotten wood for less than a second. The next thing she knew was the taste of the brackish and filthy harbor water after diving in.

Ever the schemer, Mal was infamous for creating a plan, and executing it to perfection. In the end, she would always get what she wanted, just how she wanted it.

Not this time. This time, Mal didn't plan.

Mal acted.

It was a beyond foolish and stupid idea to dive into the bay after Evie. But Mal was unable to think, save six very simple words that were now burning through her brain like the craving her lungs felt for air.

Evie in danger, get to Evie.

Like many denizens on the Isle of the Lost, Evie couldn't swim. She didn't have a hope of coming back up unless somebody went in after her. Except there was one huge problem with Mal's attempted rescue.

Mal couldn't swim either.

Not that it mattered to the obviously panicked Mal. She didn't care if anybody saw what she was doing, saw the fairy completely losing her cool. Neither did it matter if she couldn't swim. Mal had to find Evie, nothing else mattered.

The bay was dark, too dark for Mal to even locate Evie's easy to spot blue tresses. There was no telling how far she had sunk before Mal even dived in. But Mal wasn't about to give up, even as she knew she was running out of time, Mal wasn't going to abandon Evie to the ocean.

Able to swim or no, Mal searched and searched until black spots began to dance at her vision. Just as Mal felt her lungs might explode from lack of air, hands seized Mal by the arms and roughly pulled her back to the surface.

Sucking in a deep lungful of air on reflex, Mal felt herself being manhandled onto the dock. Her vision swam with the filth of the bay and the oxygen deprivation, but she was vaguely aware she was on a different, abandoned, section of the harbor than before.

Mal felt herself being dragged further onto the wooden surface. She would have struggled but her limbs were heavy and she was still dizzy.

"Let go." Mal snarled and jerked from the grip of her rescuers. She freed herself, but landed roughly onto the dock face first. With what little energy she could muster, Mal forced herself up onto her knees.

Mal did so just in time to see Evie further down the dock.

Whatever relief Mal might have felt vanished when Mal saw how pale the other girl was. Evie was still, far too still for Mal's liking. Almost as if she was…

"Evie!" Mal tried to yell, but it only came out as a pathetic croak.

Now that a few more of the mental cobwebs were clearing from Mal's addled mind, she also noticed someone else was with Evie. Mal's vision was still a little blurry, but she was able to determine it was one of the goblins that worked the barges, so too were the pair that pulled Mal from the water.

Mal's terror at Evie's state turned to pure anger when she saw the goblin kissing Evie.

"Get away from her!" Mal felt a surge of energy as the strength returned to her limbs. She jumped back to her feet, fully ready to rush the goblin on Evie but she was immediately restrained by the other pair of creatures. "Let go!"

Now the goblin was groping at Evie's chest, and Mal felt her rage boil over even stronger. The two goblins holding her back were barely able to do so as the fairy wildly thrashed about in their hold.

"EVIE!" Mal screamed as she was forced to watch the goblin alternate between kissing her girlfriend and touching her chest.

Mal had just managed to knock one of the goblins holding her off when Evie suddenly sprung to life, coughing up water and frantically gasping for air. The goblin by Evie patted the girl on the back while she threw up more of the fluid.

Mal froze, unable to process what just happened. The only thing she was able to comprehend was that Evie was moving again, and breathing. With that realization, all the strength brought about by Mal's anger vanished. She'd have fallen yet again, if the goblins hadn't caught her.

Evie looked around in panic until her gaze found Mal's. Much of the worry Mal saw in those red-brown orbs disappeared as Evie weakly raised her hand up, reaching for Mal.

To Mal's total bewilderment, the goblins that had been holding her back were now helping a barely standing Mal walk. Only after Mal was beside Evie did they let her go, even going so far as to help her sit beside her girlfriend.

Instantly taking Evie's hand in hers, Mal laced their fingers and gripped tighter than ever. Easing her girlfriend up so she was leaning against her, Mal wrapped her arms around the other girl. Evie was still spitting up water and breathing heavily, but she was alive. Mal was still a little scared, but she took comfort in that at least.

As Evie curled into Mal, the fairy looked to the trio of goblins.

"Thank you." Mal honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd said the words to someone besides Evie. This may very well have been her first time doing it.

The goblin that saved Evie said not a word. He merely nodded and stood to leave, his fellows following after him.

"Mal?"

"It's okay." Mal hushed Evie with the gentlest voice her frayed nerves would allow. Her fingers running through Evie's damp locks. "You're okay, I've got you."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That was certainly not what Ben had expected. Evie and Mal told Ben they had another story to share from their time on the isle, but he didn't think it would be that one. He should have seen it coming when they showed up in his dorm room looking nervous.

While Ben wanted to hear all their stories of life on the isle, some of them made Ben sick to his stomach. Not all, but some of them. This one had certainly been one of the latter. Even so, he considered it his punishment for not doing something sooner.

Now here they say, Ben with his back to the headboard and Evie leaning against his chest. Mal had taken a spot sitting directly in front of them facing the pair so she could tell the story.

Ben wanted to say something, anything. Some words of comfort perhaps, but still came up with nothing.

Try as he might to be otherwise, the king of Auradon was totally speechless.

"Ben, you don't need to say a word." Evie glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend, seemingly aware of his inner turmoil. "We just thought you should know."

"Still." Ben cleared his throat, arms around Evie hugging the girl closer. Something Evie made no move to object to. "I've said this before, lots of times, but I still wish I'd..."

"Hey." Mal's usual smirk was smaller than normal, but still there. "Don't do that. We agreed it all worked out best in the end, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did." Evie's smile was more like normal, much to Ben's relief. Evie leaned forward to take Mal's hands in hers and gave the fairy a soft kiss on the lips.

"You know, she tried to rescue me from the water too." Ben sensed a change in the mood of the room. Thankfully, they had shifted from the doom and gloom of bad memories to their usual teasing. "And she couldn't swim then either."

"Yeah, I remember you telling me about that." Evie giggled. "Definitely worth running the perfect makeup I gave her."

"You told her about that?" Mal glared at a shrugging, and unapologetic, Ben. "What happens at the enchanted lake, stays at the enchanted lake."

"Unless Evie asks." Ben retorted. "Sorry, but we're both suckers for those eyes of hers. I didn't stand a chance."

Evie made it a point to bat her eyelashes at Mal, the kind of look that could melt Mal like butter.

"Touché." Mal surrendered before moving back in Evie's lap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was not supposed to get this done so soon. The plan was to start it, then work on other stuff. Yeah, except once I got started it just kept going. I'm not going to complain though.
> 
> I want to do more for this pairing, but I am completely out of ideas. I was hoping my readers might have some new ones they would like to see. I'm open to just about any suggestions.
> 
> Let me know what you all think.


	18. Night Terror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's contribution comes from the mind of reader GayMinnieMouse. They wanted a scene of one of the three having a nightmare and being comforted by one of the others. Wish semi-granted.
> 
> Enjoy.

Growing up in a place like the Isle of the Lost meant learning to be a light sleeper. It was far too easy for an enemy or a previous ally to use the need for rest against you.

That was how most of the island was, Evie was a bit more fortunate. Having a room so high up, and a mother so feared, meant Evie was perfectly safe from such hostilities. Even so, Evie was still easily awoken.

Mostly because of a certain sneaky fairy.

Honestly, it was like Evie's body was magically adapted to Mal's. That was the only explanation Evie had been able to come up with for years. Every single time her girlfriend would approach from the high window, Evie would already be waking if not already up.

When Evie awoke abruptly in the middle of the night, she at first thought she'd discover Mal crawling into bed with her. The two girls had shared a bed for the night more often than either could count, before and after coming to Auradon, but not every night.

Instead, what Evie found was nothing. Mal was still asleep over in her own bed, and seemed quite out of it. Leaving a mildly confused Evie to stare around the dark room, searching for something that could have startled her back to the waking world.

"Evie…"

"Mal?" Evie threw off her covers and swung her legs off the bed. Expecting Mal to be up and awake, she found her girlfriend still asleep across the way. Was she talking in her sleep?

Evie dismissed it and was about to lay back down when Mal let out a sound almost like a whimper, or a sob. It was such an odd sound to hear coming from Mal, that Evie was on her feet and at her girlfriend's bedside in an instant.

"Mal?" Evie switched on the bedside lamp to find a distressing scene. Mal's face was scrunched up like she was in pure agony while her nightshirt and sheets were soaked through with sweat. As Evie watched, the girl went from mumbling incoherently and still to almost crying and moving about.

Unsure what else to do, Evie dropped to the bed beside her girlfriend and tried to shake her awake.

Most of Mal's whimpering Evie couldn't understand, but what little she did was chilling. Mal, the queen of being in charge and unafraid, was begging something, or someone, to stop. A few names Evie recognized among the jumble, particularly Ben and Evie's own. The rest was completely intelligible.

"I'm right here, Mal." Evie leaned back just in time to dodge a random hand from slapping her across the face. She tried to pin Mal's hands down, but found she couldn't. Evie may be physically larger, but Mal was stronger. "Wake up, it's alright. Just wake up."

Mal gave no indication she could even hear the other girl.

Before long, Mal degenerated into full blown screaming. The worst part was Evie couldn't tell if they were cries of pain, help, or something else. Whatever Mal was seeing in her nightmare had completely broken the fairy, and that was something Evie had never seen before.

Evie was silently thankful for the noise enchantments Mal kept on their room. Last thing either of them needed was for half the female dorm to come kicking their door down.

"Mal! Wake up!" Evie pleaded, the sound of Mal's screams nearly bringing her to tears. It was made all the worse by the fact Evie had no clue what to do when someone is like this. Wake her up was all she could come up with, and that didn't seem to be working. Evie didn't have a hope of restraining her either. Even if Mal wasn't thrashing about violently, she couldn't keep her down long.

For the briefest of moments, Evie pondered running to get help. If she did, Mal would be left alone and oh Lucifer did the idea of that sound horrifying. No, leaving Mal on her own was not an option.

While Evie was weighing her options, a stray arm caught her in the nose. Her face stung where the blow connected, but Evie ignored it in favor of again trying to get through to Mal once more. There had to be some way of pulling her out of whatever held her.

Just as abrupted as it started, Mal went still. Evie frankly wasn't sure if she should be relieved or terrified.

When she saw Mal's eyes opening, Evie settled on relieved. "Oh, Mal. Thank Lucifer. Are you okay?"

Mal didn't answer. Her eyes were fully open, but they were glazed over and unfocused. Evie wasn't entirely convinced Mal was even awake, but this was better than what she just had to watch.

"Mal?" Evie leaned closer, putting her hands on Mal's shoulders, not missing tenseness in her body. Whatever relief Evie had gained evaporated when, after a few moments of her touch, Mal didn't relax. Not only that, her emerald orbs, usually so bright and full of playful daringness, were dull and staring blankly ahead. "Mal, look at me."

Nothing.

Desperately trying to keep calm, Evie took in this new unresponsive Mal. It was like Mal was in some kind of trance. She had absolutely no reaction to Evie's hold, not even when she gently shook her. It was better than screaming and flailing about, but not by much.

Evie needed help. There was no other way around it, but she still couldn't leave Mal here by herself.

"Come on." Evie, as gently as she could make her trembling hands do so, took hold of Mal's hands and pulled her to the edge of the bed. Mal oddly enough complied somewhat, but when Evie tried to make the fairy stand, she fell right back down to the bed.

If Mal couldn't walk, then Evie had only one choice left.

Moving in front of Mal, Evie pulled the fairy onto her back. Wrapping Mal's arms around her neck, Evie put her hands on Mal's thighs and lifted her up. Thankfully, Mal was shorter and lighter than her girlfriend. While it took considerable effort on her part, Evie was more than willing to carry Mal as far as she needed.

With precious cargo in tow, Evie set out across the shadowed halls of Auradon Prep.

It was far from the first time Evie had been in the halls during the night, but it was the first time she'd down so without one of the others. It was so… quiet, eerily so. The isle was never quiet, there was always something going on somewhere. Yet, here in Auradon Prep the midnight hour was absolutely silent.

Evie might have been creeped out by it all, if she wasn't already creeped out and distracted by Mal's new behavior. Silence didn't hold a candle to Mal's breakdown.

Leaving their room was a gamble, sure. If Mal regressed into another fit, they wouldn't have the safety of the room and its enchantments to ward off an audience. At the same time, Evie was accomplishing nothing by herself. She needed assistance, and knew exactly who to go to.

Despite her enthusiasm and drive, Evie was utterly exhausted when she finally arrived at the door. She'd walked, a little quicker than normal, but hadn't taken a single break. Once inside she would rest, but not before.

With both her hands in use, Evie was forced to kick the door as a way of knocking. At first there was no answer, so Evie kicked again. She really hoped he answered soon, Evie was so tired she probably didn't have very many swings of her foot left.

It took three hits before Evie heard movement inside. To her immense relief, the door opened soon after to reveal a shirtless and barely conscious Ben.

The king of Auradon looked even less awake than Mal, but that dissolved when he took in the state of his girlfriends. He couldn't step aside to allow them entry fast enough.

Evie said nothing, walking right past her boyfriend while he shut the door. Taking Mal over to the bed, she tried to set the fairy down as softly as her weary body could manage. Which would have ended in disaster had Ben not appeared beside them. Ben was able to easily maneuver Mal to a position sitting against the headboard.

Evie, her task done, couldn't stand anymore. She flopped down onto the bed near Mal just before her legs gave out. The fatigue and throbbing in her limbs was a small price to pay for getting her girlfriend here.

If Ben couldn't get through to her… they would cross that bridge when they got there.

"What happened?" Ben, for some strange reason, dabbed her face lightly with a damp towel. At Evie's look of confusion, he showed her the blood on the towel. "Your nose is bleeding."

Sure enough, when Evie swiped her fingers beneath it she found that yes there was blood. It must have been when Mal whacked her by accident. Her face was still hurting, but Evie barely noticed it until Ben pointed it out.

"Want to tell me what happened?" Ben was worried, Evie knew him enough to sense that. His girlfriends showed up in the middle of the night, one catatonic and the other bleeding. Evie would already be panicked, demanding answers. Ben trusted them enough to save the freak out for when it was needed, if it was a dire emergency he knew Evie would have said so already.

That being said…

"I don't know." Evie bit her lip hard. "Mal had a… nightmare, or something." Evie went on to explain everything she could to a now fully awake Ben. He listened to every word with rapt attention, his gaze occasionally titling to look at Mal.

"Mal?" Ben tried his luck, even snapping his fingers in front of Mal's face.

"I didn't know what else to do." Evie sniffled. This was an atrocious time to start crying, but Evie's fear was getting the best of her. Her eyes already welling up with unshed tears that threatened to break loose.

While Ben tried to get through to Mal, his other hand reached out to take Evie's. He said nothing to his human girlfriend, but he didn't have to. His touch more than enough to reinforce Evie's emotional strength. Evie said nothing more to Ben either, but she did lace their fingers together and squeeze tightly.

After a while, Evie was beginning to lose hope of rousing Mal from her stupor. She didn't react to Ben any more than she did Evie. Evie had been so hopeful Ben could succeed where she failed, and now that hope was crushed. It was making Evie want to cry all over again.

"We're right here, Mal." Ben took Mal's hand and brought it up to his bare chest, splaying her fingers across the skin directly over where his heart was. "Both of us."

Realizing where Ben was going with this, Evie took Mal's other hand and brought it to her own chest. Her nightdress low enough not to interfere with Mal's sense of touch.

For one of the longest moments of Evie's life, nothing happened. Just as Evie was about to give up hope, she felt Mal's fingers curling against her own skin. The first act Mal had done all night without being led.

When Mal's eyes, still a little unfocused, shifted to look upon Evie, the human girl wanted to cry again but for completely different reasons.

"We're here." Evie whispered, too scared to speak any louder lest they scare Mal back into whatever shell she'd been drawn into. To further driver her point home, Evie pressed her hand to Mal's further into her chest.

"Evie?" Mal's voice was so low, so meek, it made Evie sick to hear it in such a state.

"Right here." Evie was also elated beyond measure to hear something from her girlfriend.

"Ben?" Mal's gaze titled to the boy beside Evie.

"Here." Ben said only the one word, but was smiling in such a way that would have had Evie swooning under different circumstances.

When Mal closed her eyes this time, Evie wasn't worried. She knew the fairy was focusing on what she felt. The steady, or wild in Evie's case, thumping that was her boyfriend and girlfriend's heartbeats. That constant, unending rhythm pulsing from behind their ribs.

Evie knew from the look on Mal's face that she was basking in the sensation. The real tangible, proof that the ones she loved were right there in front of her, whole and unharmed. Evie would have found the feeling intoxicating, but it was exactly what they needed to free Mal's mind.

They could have sat like that for the remainder of the night, Evie wouldn't have minded, but next thing Evie knew, Mal's eyes were open. They had regained their usual luster, but were downcast in shame.

"Sorry." Mal mumbled, doing her absolute best to avoid looking either Ben or Evie in the eye.

Mal hated showing weakness, Evie and Ben were helping Mal out of that nasty habit but it was slow going. Mal would learn that it was okay to not be strong all the time, eventually. Living in Auradon helped with the immensely.

"Nothing to be sorry for." Ben took Mal's hand and kissed her knuckles softly. "You did have us worried, you know."

"What happened, M?" Evie touched her lips to the back of Mal's hand.

"Bad dream." Mal tried to answer simply, the deflection obvious.

"What was it?" Evie wasn't sure she wanted to know. If it was enough to scar Mal, there was no telling what it would have done to Evie to see what her girlfriend saw.

"I…" Mal choked on her own words. "I couldn't beat my mom, she won. Then she…" Mal trailed off, obviously afraid to finish. Evie so loved those emeralds that were her fairy's eyes, but there was a wild fear in them now.

"Shh." Ben took hold of Mal's hand in both of his. "You don't have to tell us anymore."

"We understand." Evie, for her own sake, didn't want to hear the rest. The sheer horror of what Mal saw made Evie want to reach across, take Mal into her arms, and never let go.

"Ben?" Mal's voice was weak, unsure. "Would you mind…"

"Say no more, there's no way I'm letting you two go back to your dorm tonight." Ben reassured with that smile that Evie and Mal both adored. "Unless Evie objects…"

"Hell no." Evie sunk that line of thinking without a moment's thought. "You'll have to throw me out."

"I bet Ben could." Mal's lips turned up in the tiniest smirk imaginable. Seeing that right now almost made Evie's heart explode with joy. "I bet it'd be funny."

"Hilarious, I'm sure." Evie rolled her eyes, but secretly over the moon now that Mal's mood had improved enough for her sense of humor to return.

"Ladies, as interesting as this is getting, it's almost three in the morning." Ben glanced over at his bedside clock. "We do have class tomorrow and you two still have to make it back to your dorm."

"Unbelievable." Mal shook her head in mock disappointment. "Ruining the mood, just like that."

"Unbelievable." Evie parroted.

"Well, it's either sleep now or skip class tomorrow." Ben moved to lay beside Mal, while Evie had moved to lay on Mal's opposite side. "I'm good with either."

Evie and Mal both looked at Ben with looks of utter bewilderment.

"What?" Ben met the stares of his girlfriends.

"You just suggested skipping class tomorrow."

"I said it was an option, Mal."

"Doesn't matter, it's on the table."

"So? Why does that matter, Evie?"

Evie and Mal turned to look at each other before all but cheering, they would have if Ben's room was as soundproofed as theirs, in perfect unison. "No school tomorrow!"

"Now wait a minute…"

"Too late, Bennyboo." Mal giggled, a real giggle and not the one that foretold doom. "We're taking tomorrow off and we're going to cuddle in this bed as long as we like."

"Seconded." Evie raised a hand briefly before resting her head on Mal's shoulder.

"Are you giving an order to the king of Auradon?" Ben put on his best dramatic 'kingly' voice. It did have the desired effect of making the girls laugh.

"Totally." Mal's eyes narrowed in mock anger. "Are you questing my authority?"

"Nope." Ben saluted. "Your wish is my command m'lady. The day off we shall have."

"To cuddle in bed." Evie raised her hand again. "Don't forget that important part."

"Yes, thank you, Evie." Ben leaned over peck Evie on the cheek. "Who would have thought? The great and terrible Mal giving a royal decree for a day off in bed to actually cuddle."

"Madness, isn't it?" Evie supplied.

"Imagine what the people would say." Ben whispered across Mal to Evie.

"Such talk." Evie hummed in contentment when Mal's arm snaked its way around her.

"Bunch of comedians you two are, really." Mal laughed, moving her other arm around Ben who moved closer into her side. When he reached across Mal's stomach, Evie immediately found his hand with hers and laced their fingers again.

It was amazing really. This night had begun so serious, so terrifyingly scary. Now here they were, all cuddled together in Ben's large bed and teasing and laughing like nothing had ever happened. They had bounced back so fast it was incredible.

Such was the strength of their love, Evie figured. There was nothing they couldn't face, no roadblock or speedbump in their relationship too strong for them. As long as the three had each other, they could do anything.

Even face down the demons of dreamland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original plan for this chapter was going to involve a scene from Mal's POV showing the nightmare itself. I decided to go with the concept of 'nothing is scarier' instead of writing it out. Let me put it this way, the nightmare was bad enough to break Mal of all people. That should tell you just how horrible it was.
> 
> Please leave a review and let me know what you all think. I am still eager to hear more suggestions. A guest gave me an idea about Evie being kidnapped that I might run with next, but after that? Who knows?


	19. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit, when I came back to Package Deal I wasn't expecting such a reception. Even with Descendants 2 out, I half expected this had seen its final chapters.
> 
> That was when my readers had to go and prove me wrong yet again. All of you are the best ever.
> 
> Now I sit upon a small pile of new ideas I must forge into new chapters. Maybe more, once I finally get time to see the new movie.
> 
> Original credit for this idea goes to a reader by the name of Geeky_MikaBoo, whom wished to see some jealous Ben or Mal, maybe even a prince who doesn't go to their school hitting on Evie. Maybe not what you had in mind, but here you are.
> 
> Enjoy.

Ben couldn't remember the last time he wanted to punch something so badly.

The young king had been looking forward to the party. It was time to spend with his girlfriends, an opportunity to see Mal in a dress, and a chance for Evie to dance.

Thus far, Ben had gotten none of those things save the last one, and not in the way Ben would have liked. Evie was certainly loving her dancing, just without Ben or Mal. It wasn't Evie's fault either, she was simply making the best of a lousy situation.

In truth, Ben should have seen it coming. Everyone wanted a chance to meet and see the king of Auradon. Just being seen among other members of the nobility shaking hands and speaking with the king gave them enormous boosts in the eyes of their peers. Ben had gotten an inkling of this from his days as heir to the throne but only fully understood it after he'd taken it.

Needless to say, Ben had been stuck in meet and greet hell since the evening began.

Mal herself would probably be stuck in the same boat were she actually here. The fairy had managed to weasel out of the evening using neglected homework as part of her excuse. Just as well, Ben hadn't been able to go out with just himself and Evie in some time. As much as he cared for Mal, Evie was his girlfriend too.

Adding to the fire, the nobility got nervous whenever he was with Mal and Evie at the same time during events like these. Mal liked to think they were intimidated by the former villain kids, and she may have been right. Mal skipping out might have been helpful for public opinion, but not like Ben cared about that when it came to his girlfriends.

As far as Ben was concerned, public opinion was just that, opinion.

As torn to tatters as Ben's plans were, there was one upside. Evie was having a good time even though she'd been left completely on her own. The few glances Ben had managed to sneak showed that Evie had adapted well to mingling among the other nobles. Ironic as it was, Ben no doubt had Evil Queen to thank for that one.

The night wore on, along with Ben's nerves. The nobility may have been annoying, but they were not malicious. Even so, Ben still felt like just telling everyone to shove it so he can be with Evie. Just how many showed up anyway?

Ben just happened to glance to the side when he caught sight of Evie once again, only now she was no longer alone. The girl was moving about on the dancefloor with some random prince Ben didn't recognize.

So distracted Ben was, he almost realized too late the firm handshake his dad taught him had turned into an almost bone shattering grip with the current lord trying to talk to him. Fortunately, the lord laughed it off, while flexing his fingers, and congratulating the king on such a powerful shake of the hand.

Ben joined in with the lord and nobles, but his attention was still over the lord's shoulder, with Evie and whoever the hell that was with her.

He couldn't determine the person's build from this distance, but Ben assumed it might have been Doug. Evie and the son of Dopey had always been great friends. Then moving pair shifted and Ben saw the other boy's face. No, it wasn't Doug, but Ben didn't recognize him. He must go to a different school than Auradon Prep.

In a feat of impressive tolerance, Ben held tightly to his calm demeanor. Even while he had to watch Evie smiling and laughing with someone else, Ben didn't let it show how it affected him. Granted, Ben saw Evie with Mal almost constantly, but that was different. Mal was their girlfriend and Ben shared in their happiness whenever they were together. He felt no anger then, no worry, nothing but joy.

Right now, there was plenty of rage for a lifetime. Ben so badly wanted to throw the nobles and lords aside and stomp over to the one daring to touch his Evie. What Ben would do to him, he had no idea, probably something that would have had Mal cheering. Fortunately, said fairy wasn't here, she'd have already started lobbing curses.

The only reason Ben wasn't acting on his impulses, was because Evie seemed to be enjoying herself. He had been neglecting her all night, it didn't matter that it wasn't his fault, she had every reason and right to find company somewhere.

Of all the anger and negativity Ben felt churning within him, not a single speck was saved Evie. All she was doing was being friendly, and Ben trusted his girlfriend. Evie, Ben, and Mal's unorthodox relationship wouldn't have survived past the first couple weeks if they didn't trust in each other.

Without any other option, Ben stewed in his feelings while chatting with the nobility. Somehow, he managed to pretend nothing was going on. If any of the others had seen any crack in his façade, they'd have said something.

It was a true testament to Ben's control over the family beastly temper that he held on as long as he did.

Until suddenly, Ben didn't have to anymore.

It was subtle at first, the crowd gathered around Ben thinning out little by little. There were still people wanting to talk with the king, but none of any real importance. Certainly nobody Ben couldn't brush off.

"If you'll excuse me." Ben smiled, a heavily forced act, and bowed before making a move for where Evie was. Nobody dared try to stop him or intercept. Good thing too, Ben would have been less than friendly if they had.

Ben reached the dancefloor, but lingered on the edge. Evie didn't think when she danced, her movements were always from the heart and without thought. Ben needed to figure out a way to catch her attention, it was that or wait until she finished and noticed him.

It would be rude to shove the offending prince away, to Evie not the prince, and never in a million years would Ben ever consider grabbing Evie in such a violent fashion.

While Ben weighed his options, Evie abruptly left the hold of the prince and spun toward Ben.

Without thinking, Ben caught Evie's hand, finished the last couple steps of the dance, and dipped Evie almost all the way to the floor. His beastly strength allowing him to hold Evie's weight with one arm like it was nothing.

"About time." Evie's shining eyes gazed up at Ben, completely unafraid of being dropped. "It's been lonely without you."

"I'm so…" Ben lifted Evie back up.

"Don't." Evie gracefully landed on her feet. "I understand, what matters is you're here now."

"But I had an entire apology rehearsed." Ben's hands subconsciously moved to encircle Evie's waist while hers found their way around his neck. Evie's touch making Ben completely forget why he'd been angry in the first place.

"I'm sure it was a good one." Evie's smile turned even wider, if that was possible. "You won't need it."

"Excuse me."

Ben had forgotten about Evie's companion.

"Oh, this is Robert." Evie neither let go of Ben nor looked in the direction of this Robert, instead she gave the most dismissive tilt of her head imaginable toward him. "Robert, this is…"

"Everyone know who you are, your majesty." Robert bowed, and Ben already decided he didn't like this person. Robert was unfamiliar, but his type was not. Just the way he stood and how he looked at Evie like she was some prize. He was the spitting image of the prince Evil Queen wanted her daughter to marry. Handsome, wealthy, and no doubt with a family estate back home.

Too bad for Evil Queen, Evie's priorities had changed radically since the two's last meeting.

"Nice to meet you, Robert." Ben was thankful Robert didn't want a handshake, there was no way he was going to release Evie any time soon.

"He's been keeping me company." Evie was still smiling, but Ben could hear the real message in the way her tone of voice changed. Robert's company hadn't been entirely welcome, but Evie was trying her best to be respectful. Ben knew exactly how that one felt.

"I believe another song is coming on, would you like to continue our lovely evening, my lady?" Robert offered Evie his arm.

"No thanks." Robert hadn't even finished speaking before Evie shot him down.

"What?" Between the look on Robert's face and his voice, Ben could tell he was just like another Chad Charming. A spoiled prince not accustomed to being denied anything.

"I've been stuck here all alone waiting for everyone to give my boyfriend a break." Evie shifted so that her back was to Ben, but she remained so close during that Ben's arms never left her middle. Leaning back against Ben's chest, she continued. "Do you really think I'm going to waste any more time with you?"

Ben said nothing, but he couldn't resist the urge to pull Evie tighter against him, almost possessively. Evie didn't complain, her hands moving over top of his, lithe fingers dancing along his knuckles.

"But, surely a beautiful girl like you could do better than a king's mistress." Robert was oblivious to the twin looks of fury on the other two. "I understand such a position is…"

"MISTRESS?" Ben and Evie both growled together. It was impossible to tell who was more infuriated by the comment, Ben or Evie.

Ben knew what words were thrown around by the nobility about him and his girlfriends. Mal was the more widely known girlfriend, as such her title was his royal consort. Evie however, was a little lesser known and had come into the picture later in the public's eye. Everyone referred to her as the king's mistress, something that no one to date had dare do to the king's face.

Ben would have already broken Robert's nose or jaw if his arms were not still around Evie. His girlfriends always had a magical way of calming him in such a way he never dreamed. Calmed he might have been, but that didn't fully erase his rage.

From Evie's waist, Ben could feel the way her fingers twitched ever so slightly. The girl was one hairsbreadth away from slapping Robert into oblivion before the entire gathering.

"You dare…" Ben didn't care that his voice had all but turned into an inhuman snarl. The sound was almost chilling, Jay had told him once. Judging by the way the color drained from Robert's face, the sentiment was shared by this fool too.

"Ben, darling?" Evie looked over her shoulder, unfazed by the sounds coming from her boyfriend. "Shut up."

"Yes, ma'am." Ben's voice returned to normal immediately.

"You… you can't talk to a king like…" Robert stammered, trying to regain some composure.

"You shut up too." Evie snapped. Whereas the words to Ben had been soft, the same ones to Robert had an edge sharper than razorblades. "You think you can talk to me or my boyfriend in such a way?"

"I…"

"I told you to shut up." Evie roughly jabbed Robert in the chest with her finger. He retreated back a step, and the only reason Evie didn't pursue was because that would have required leaving Ben's arms. "I can talk to him like that because he's my boyfriend, I don't care if he's king of the planet and the moon, he's mine."

"And Evie's nobody's mistress." Ben knew Evie had the situation well in hand, but he couldn't help joining in. "She doesn't need me, she doesn't need you, or anybody. She's an amazing girl that deserves better than anything I can give her or you."

Robert was utterly floored at the hostility. Ben was a second from pressing the attack when Robert turned on his heel and fled, metaphorical tail between his legs.

Ben held Evie close, burying his nose into her blue locks. "You go girl."

"You weren't so bad yourself, Ben." Evie giggled when Ben's lips found her neck. "I thought I'd never get rid of him."

"They're all the same, aren't they?" Ben planted a kiss to the crown of Evie's head.

"Nope." Evie twirled around so that she was once again facing Ben. "Me and Mal are just the two luckiest girls in the world to get the genuine knight in shining armor. You sure you're not the real son of Charming?"

"Afraid so." Ben laughed, his and Evie's foreheads coming to rest together.

"For the best, I love it when you go beast for us." Evie's grin grew once more. "Speaking of our girlfriend, what do you say we ditch this place and go rescue a dragon from the knights of homeworkville?"

"Feels kind of backwards, don't it?"

"Probably, are you complaining?"

"Not at all, Evie. Lead the way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was actually harder than I thought. I don't know, it just wasn't coming out right. Doesn't help that stupid computer crashes keep messing with my writing and erasing chunks of what I type.
> 
> Next chapter marks number 20. Who would have thought I'd make it his far? Next will likely be either the kidnapping one, which I now know how I want it to go, or another glimpse into the future of adult descendants.
> 
> To those who have read the M chapter, I am considering going back and rewriting it somewhat now that the new movie is out. Haven't quite decided yet.


	20. Prisoner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to do a chapter where Mal is the one kidnapped, but there's a certain scene I wanted that required Evie to be the one taken. The last several chapters have been Evie centric so sorry about that Mal and Ben lovers.
> 
> Enjoy.

Evie had to admit, she was impressed. Not only did these guys snatch her in broad daylight, they risked the wrath of Mal in doing so. Something even Chad was terrified of.

Nobody on the isle would have been this daring. In all her years on the island, Evie never did get to experience being kidnapped. In public, Evie was a close ally and ran with Mal. As a result, Evie got to enjoy the protection this brought. Mal would have burned the isle to the ground to rescue her best friend, and later girlfriend, from harm.

It was amusing at first, but the novelty of being kidnapped was quickly wearing off.

She'd been bagged over the head before she got a look at her attackers, but Evie wondered who had been courageous enough to attempt her kidnapping. They were going to wish Maleficent had conquered Auradon when Mal found out. Punishment from the mistress of all evil would be much more merciful than what the fairy would mete out, that was for sure.

Lucifer knows what Ben would do when he found out. That train of thought made Evie wince internally. She would need to rein in her boyfriend before he could do anything drastic, because he certainly would. His protectiveness was only eclipsed by Mal's.

If both Ben and Mal were out on a vengeance quest? Dear lucifer, Evie didn't even want to imagine it!

Isle of the Lost Evie might have just sat there and waited for rescue, but not Auradon Evie. She was no damsel in distress waiting for her beast and dragon to come save her, she would save herself if possible.

Even though it would be undeniable romantic for Evie's boyfriend and girlfriend to come riding in like an avalanche to rescue the princess from the tower. Romantic, but unnecessary.

First order of business had been to escape the ropes restraining her hands, something Evie accomplished by simply pulling them off herself. Could these people not even tie simple knots?

With hands free, Evie pulled the bad off her head and took in her surroundings. She was seated in a chair inside one of the storage sheds for tourney equipment. The actual equipment locked behind metal gates Evie had no key for, so nothing she could use.

A quick check of the main door proved it was locked, the windows the kind that didn't open. Some precautions had been taken in case she'd gotten free, meager though they were.

Evie contemplated breaking one of the small windows with the chair and escape that way, but there may be some of her captors outside. Not to mention, she didn't know just how many there were. She'd been grabbed by at least two, but there could easily be more.

Yelling for help would be useless. Not only would that also alert her enemies outside, the tourney sheds were off to the side of the field. Being more than a little out of the way and any school traffic meant nobody to hear her calls.

Another option was to wait for one of them to return and wait in ambush from behind the door using the chair, but again Evie didn't know how many she was up against. She could take one out, but if there were others they'd swarm her.

Evie needed more information. As much as it annoyed her, she retook her seat and waited for her captors to return. They would have to eventually, the only reason Evie was in this shed was because they either wanted something, or were waiting for something.

Time passed, Evie wasn't sure how much without any form of clock, until she heard the jingle of a key opening the door.

Straightening up in her chair, Evie made sure to move her hands back behind the chair to create the illusion she was still restrained. If she was fortunate, Evie might be able to escape out the door using the element of surprise.

Real luck would have been Mal or Ben opening the door, but more likely they would be breaking it down in absolute raw fury instead.

Naturally, the boy walking through the door was neither Ben, nor Carlos or Jay.

"Terribly sorry about this." The boy, a redhead Evie had seen occasionally in the halls of the school came through the doorway. Roger, his name was if Evie remembered right. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No." Evie's voice was neutral, refusing to allow him to see her afraid. Whatever it was they wanted, Evie was not going to be intimidated.

"Good." Roger leaned in front of her, seemingly looking her over. Oddly enough, he didn't seem to be actually looking at her like a boy would a beautiful girl. It was almost as if he was searching for injuries. "I told them not to be too rough with you."

Evie grinned internally. Roger must not comprehend the rules of taking hostages. You never let them get too much information. That last comment, paired with Evie's memory of the attack, told her she had at least three kidnappers to deal with. It was a start, now to see if she could get more out of the foolish boy.

"Mind doing me a favor and telling me just what is going on?" Evie cocked her head to the side. She'd considered turning on the charm, but decided against it. Evie didn't want these guys' having the satisfaction, but it was a weapon within her arsenal if she needed it.

"We're taking you home." Roger finished his examination and moved so that he was standing directly in front of Evie. Although he wasn't trying to tower over the seated Evie like he could have. Neither was he trying to rub her nose in the fact she was his prisoner. As far as kidnappers go, Roger was being weirdly polite so far.

"If you're taking me home, then why am I tied up in a shed?" Evie narrowed her eyes, letting the annoyance slide into her tone. "You're doing a poor job so far."

"Believe me, if I had my way, you'd be home already." Roger offered an apologetic shrug. "But we have to wait for the coast to be clear enough to sneak you off the school grounds."

"Why would you be taking me off grounds if I'm being taken home?" Obviously, Roger's definition of home and Evie's were radically different, but the idiot was outright telling Evie his intentions. If she could get that, it would help Evie's brewing escape plan.

"We can't really teleport you to the Isle of the Lost, now can we?" Roger stopped as if thinking. "I Fairy Godmother would allow it we'd have already gone to her by now. But we know she won't see things our way."

Evie pretended not to shudder at the thought of being send back to the isle. Many would sweep in to collect on old grudges the instant they knew she was there. Evie was not so crazy as to think she'd survive ten seconds without Mal's reputation as protection.

As scary as the thought was to go back, Evie knew Mal and Ben would come for her if it came to that. It would be nothing for Mal to do so, but Ben, the king of Auradon himself would face the isle without hesitation if it meant saving his Evie.

In truth, Evie would prefer her boyfriend never see the place. Ben would grow furious whenever he found out the things they missed or had to put up with. Thus far, all his knowledge of these things were stories from the four former villain kids.

Stories were one thing, but if Ben saw the Isle of the Lost for himself, his rage would decimate kingdoms.

"Maybe because your way involves some disturbingly villain like behavior." Evie deadpanned. "I don't think she will be alright with this when she eventually finds out."

"Perhaps." Roger agreed. "But I believe she will come around and understand once your corrupting influence is away from King Ben."

"Corrupting?" Evie laughed at that, it was just so absurd she couldn't help herself. "And what makes my friends any less 'corrupting'?"

Did Evie have some influence on Ben? Absolutely, but no more so than he did on her or any of the others. Before Auradon, before Ben, the four had no intentions on being anything but what they were raised to be, villains. Ben was not only the one who gave them the chance to be something else, he dared them to be better.

That the former villains helped Ben to loosen up somewhat was a pleasant side effect.

"They're not less." Roger spoke like his words should have been obvious. "None of you should have ever come here. Not only were you taken away from your home, you were brought to a place completely incompatible with you. I don't know what his grace was thinking, but we'll correct his mistake."

Evie was speechless. This wasn't a person doing what he did to be cruel or because he thought he was better, like the Chads of the world. This was someone who actually believed what he was doing was the right thing, a kind of person more dangerous than any other.

Pity, Roger was the type of person who would make a great friend. At least if he didn't' have such black and white views on villains and heroes.

"And I will admit, we took you because it was easy." Roger confessed, not catching on to his prisoner's silence. "We never would have had a hope of apprehending Mal or Jay if he was on guard. Maybe when you're gone and Ben comes to his senses we can talk to him. Barring that, Carlos would have to go ne…"

In hindsight, Evie shouldn't have been so stupid. Roger had no clue she wasn't actually tied up and gave zero attempt to make sure. That comment about Carlos being taken next, however, made Evie snap.

Roger might have thought Evie was bound before, he certainly didn't think so when the hand came flying and swatted his cheek with a resounding crack.

Knowing she was busted, Evie used Roger's shock to leap from the chair and sprint for the door. He recovered faster than she expected and grabbed for her, but Evie was able to dodge it even in the cramped quarters of the shed.

Evie had just managed to reach the open door when another boy moved to block her only exit. It was yet another she recognized, one of Jay's teammates on the tourney team. Even if he wasn't physically in her path, Evie would have had no hope of getting past him.

Her momentum was too much for Evie to stop herself, she tried to skid to a halt but the newcomer simply shoved her back into the shed, quite roughly. She would have landed flat on her back if Roger hadn't caught her with hands beneath her shoulders.

"Hey!" Roger snapped, at first Evie thought he was talking to her. That was proved false when he made sure she was steady on her feet and more gently eased her behind him back toward the chair. "There's no need for that, Derick."

"You know who she is." Derick affixed Evie with a glare just as icy as some of the ones she'd received on Family Day, quite the feat.

"I don't care." Roger stopped Derick with a hand to the chest when the other boy took a step forward. "Show some respect, we're not savages."

Evie, without any other option available, resumed her seat on the chair and listened to the exchange between the two boys. She was rather surprised Roger was sticking up for her at all. When Evie had seen Derick in her path, she'd expected a minor beating at least before being banished back to her prison.

Roger was having none of that.

"Apologies for that." Roger turned to face Evie when Derick finally left, closing and probably locking the door behind him. "He means well, but can be a little… overzealous."

"Sure, I'll take your word for it." Evie softened her voice a little as thanks.

"Sorry for this, too." Roger retied Evie's hands, but he was strangely gentle while he did so. Making sure the knots were tight enough she couldn't slip them again, but not enough to be painful.

"You're an awfully gracious kidnapper." Evie looked over her shoulder.

"Good, bad, villain or hero, everyone deserves at least some basic human decency." Roger finished fixing the ropes and stood before Evie again.

Hmm… escape was likely impossible now after her last attempt, but Evie began to concoct a different plan to get away. Roger was obviously the ringleader of this little plan, but more importantly he seemed at least like a sympathetic person. She might be able to convince him to just let her go and that she and the others weren't so bad.

Evie opened her mouth to start the first step of this new plan, but paused when she heard something outside. It sounded faintly like yelling, but Evie had to strain her ears to catch even that.

Roger heard it too. He had taken one step forward when the door exploded in a blast of green flame. The force of the blast blew Roger clear off his feet and further into the shed. When Evie felt the shockwave strike her, it did nothing, not even lift a strand of her blue locks.

Mal looked every bit a vengeful goddess as she entered. She didn't pass through the doorway, so much as melt it around her. The colored fire twisting and warping around her body like a living creature serving its mistress, eager and hungry for more to consume.

"Evie." It was the only word Mal said since her arrival, but most of Mal's anger seemed to subside upon seeing her lover unharmed.

Even with her hands tied behind her back, Evie was on her feet when Mal dashed forth to throw her arms around her. The flames Mal was wreath in surged out to envelop Evie, the fiery aura dancing and licking across her skin and clothes. Evie felt no actual heat from them, a little warmth but that was it.

The chair and ropes that bound her were both incinerated instantly, but the fire instead curled all over Evie forming a protective shell around the fairy and human girls. With hands free, Evie wasted no time in returning her girlfriend's embrace.

"Did they hurt you?" Mal pulled back just enough to hold Evie at arm's length, emerald eyes scanning her for anything out of place.

"No." Evie's lips turned up in a smile, her forehead coming to rest against Mal's.

Mal returned the expression, right up until she saw Roger regaining his feet off to the side. "You."

Roger held his hands up in surrender, but had to know he wasn't getting out of this one intact. Mal's rage returned, her intentions toward the boy clear.

"Mal, wait." Evie gripped Mal's hips from behind her fairy.

"He…"

"Is the only reason they didn't hurt me." Evie pleaded. "Go easy on him."

Mal's glare remained on Roger for a few more heartbeats before she lashed out with a brutal left hook to his jaw that sent the boy spinning to the floor on his face. Evie wasn't sure if the sound she heard was his bones breaking or the impact itself.

"Mal!"

"I want to feed him in pieces to the fish." Mal hissed. "That was me going easy on him." Mal's voice shifted back to the gentle way she spoke when alone with Evie or Ben. "Now come on, my princess. The others are waiting."

Evie sighed at the nickname, but didn't resist when Mal wrapped one arm around her to lead her outside.

In all honesty, Evie wouldn't have been surprised to find Mal had attacked the entire group on her own. As it turned out, she hadn't.

The first thing Evie's eyes caught was Jay sitting on top of two badly beaten boys sprawled out in the dirt. Jay didn't have a scratch on him, and looked decidedly less than impressed with his opponents.

"How many are involved?" The voice was so low, so beastly inhuman, Evie almost didn't believe it could come from her boyfriend, but there he was. Ben had Derick pinned to the side of the shed by the throat a full foot off the ground. "How many?"

Derick was unable to speak, from Ben cutting off his air or just plain fear, but either way he held up a hand with five fingers instead of trying to talk.

Roger was still inside, Jay had two, then there was Derick. Where was number five?

Evie heard the grunt before a fifth boy was shoved from the bushes to land on the ground. This one Evie didn't know, but he looked to have taken a beating even worse than Jay had doled out.

"Told you he wouldn't get far." Lonnie of all people emerged from behind the boy and planted a foot on his back when he tried to rise. When he let out a groan, Lonnie rewarded him with a nasty kick in the ribs. "Shut up."

"Aww, I owe Carols five bucks." Jay lamented when he saw Evie. He was wearing his usual devil-may-care grin, but Evie noticed he only put it on after he glanced her over for injuries. "You were supposed to escape on your own, Evie."

At the sound of Evie's name, both Lonnie and Ben turned at once to the fairy and human duo.

"Evie." Ben dropped Derick on the spot, where he crumbled into a heap, while Ben hugged Evie much in the way Mal did a moment ago.

Evie was all but crushed in the combined holds of her lovers but didn't care. She had full faith they would come for her, but it still made her swoon to see it happen.

"Wait, where's Carlos?" Evie searched around for the youngest of their number. There was no way he would have sat out any form of rescue, even if he lacked any skill in fighting.

"We sent him to Fairy Godmother." Ben answered. "Better to ask forgiveness than permission."

"As if I'd ever ask forgiveness. They're lucky I didn't turn them all to ash for this." Mal scoffed with a snarl.

"Hey." Evie spoke softly, taking Mal's chin in her hands so the fairy would look at her. "I'm alright, and you got to rescue a princess, didn't you?"

"I guess." Mal grinned, kissing Evie lightly on the temple. Leaning in close, Mal whispered in her ear. "I don't think anybody is going to mind if we go use Ben's huge bed for some much-needed cuddling."

"Me and Jay will wait for Fairy Godmother." Lonnie patted Evie on the arm with a smile. "You guys get Evie out of here."

Yes, home, Auradon and her room with Mal within the halls of Auradon Prep. In the arms of Mal and Ben, that was Evie's real home right there. No place in the world Evie would rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those wondering, I think the next chapter will be another glimpse into the future of the triad. Particularly their kids and the dragon/beast traits a reader mentioned. First things first, I need to watch the second movie before I can do that.
> 
> As always, more suggestions are welcome, reviews even more so.


	21. Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haven't watched the movie yet, but I own it and watched a few scenes to tide me over until I could devote enough time to actually watch the thing.
> 
> I was going to do another future chapter about Lily and Violet, but I decided against it. Either way, I also wanted to do something involving a dragon.
> 
> Enjoy.

"I ever tell you what a gorgeous view this is, Ben?"

"Yes, Evie." Ben smiled at his girlfriend's childish excitement.

"Every time we come up here." Mal contributed.

"Oh." Evie shrugged and went back to admiring the scenery. "Still, it's amazing."

"Eh, gets boring after a while." Ben leaned against the railing beside Evie.

The blue haired girl got this way every single time Ben took her to the tallest level of Castle Beast. Being so high up offered a splendid display of the surrounding countryside. Ben had grown up here, with said view available to see every single day. It didn't mean much to him, but whenever Evie wanted to see it, he'd happily bring her up here if possible.

The beauty of the panorama paled in comparison to his girlfriends, but Ben didn't dare say that aloud. Mal would strike him for the corny cliché but Evie would probably kiss him for the same reason. The latter made quite the tempting offer.

"I know a view that never gets boring." Mal leaned back so she could see around Ben to unashamedly run her gaze over Evie's jean clad legs.

It wasn't often that Evie wore jeans, she more preferred to wear skirts or leggings, but neither would exactly be all that appropriate for today's activity. While Evie made anything look good, Ben had to admit he could see why Mal would enjoying the sight.

"I can feel you looking, M." Evie didn't take her eyes from the vista before them.

"Who, me?" The mock offense from Mal was so forced, it almost made Ben laugh. "How do you know it's not Ben looking?"

"Because I can see he's starring ahead like me." Evie shot back. "And he's too chivalrous to be ogling me, even though he can all he wants. And plus, you're devious like that."

"I promised not to abuse the privilege." Ben added.

"And it makes us love you all the more." Evie shifted her body so she could plant a soft kiss on Ben's cheek.

Not too long ago, Evie would have loved nothing more than to be the center of attention, to be 'ogled' by anyone and everyone. If people did that, it meant you were the most attractive around and that was what Evil Queen taught her daughter she should be.

Such was not the case anymore. Now, Evie would rather people appreciate her intelligence and spirit rather than her looks. Out of politeness, she would tolerate people looking at her for her beauty, but she didn't like it anymore. The only ones she enjoyed looks from were her boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Okay, yes, I am devious, I'll give you that one." Mal wore a triumphant smirk. "And besides, don't I have permission too?"

"Well, duh." Evie giggled.

"Hey Ben, how high up do you think we are?" Mal changed the topic as she peered over the edge.

Ben let out a low whistle as he did the same. "You know, I actually don't know. This is one of the highest points around, baring the mountains."

Mal hummed softly in acknowledgement, then promptly dove over the railing. As she did, Ben and Evie watched their fairy's leap with completely neutral expressions.

"She always been this dramatic?" Ben whispered to Evie.

"Only when she's trying." Evie sighed.

At first, there was nothing but silence. Then came a rush of air accompanied by a flash of something zooming by at high speed. A second whoosh of wind came next from behind the pair.

When the duo turned, it was just in time to see the large form a dragon coming to a graceful landing on a more open section of the roof. The gleaming purple scales seeming to shimmer when struck by the day's sunshine.

"Now this, is something that never gets old." Evie came up to the front of the dragon to run her hand along the scales lining its head. "Still as amazing as the first time, M."

Mal gave a small huff before moving her head to nuzzle Evie's hand, eliciting a giggle from the human girl. When Mal tilted her head down, Evie met her halfway and touched her forehead to that of the dragon.

"That's something we need to get a snapshot of." Ben moved to stand next to Evie to admire their girlfriend.

"YES!" Evie shrieked clapping her hands. Were their ears any weaker, Evie would have shattered both Ben and Mal's eardrums. Hopefully, for Mal's sake, dragons didn't have sensitive hearing.

"Pity we didn't bring a camera. Sorry, Evie." Ben apologized.

"Mal, remember a camera next time." Evie poked Mal on her nose.

Ben couldn't help it, he burst into laughter. There was just something so hilarious about Evie giving orders like it was an average day to a dragon. Mal couldn't talk in this form, but from the snorting sound she made, Ben deduced he wasn't the only who found the situation humorous.

"As fun as this is ladies, we will already be returning after dark." Ben checked his watch. "We should probably get going so we don't miss anything."

Mal lowered her head further down so that he long neck was more on Ben and Evie's level. Lacing his fingers together, Ben let Evie step into his hands and hoisted her up and onto Mal. Ben himself climbed up so that he was seated behind her.

Mal growled.

"Yup, we're good to go, M." Evie grinned, all but bouncing in her seat in excitement.

"Ready, Mal." Ben wrapped his arms securely around Evie's waist.

Sometimes, Ben wondered if he was dreaming. Yet here he was, on the roof of his childhood home, riding a dragon, who was also his girlfriend, while holding his other girlfriend in his arms. If someone had told him about this a year ago, he'd have them sent to a mad house.

Strange the directions life can take someone.

One step, two steps, then three, and Mal took flight.

Still possessing the flair for the dramatic from earlier, Mal didn't fly straight away. She instead threw herself into a high-speed nose dive straight off the edge of the castle.

Evie, never one to be scared that easily, threw her hands in the air and erupted into squeals of delight like she was going downhill on a roller coaster. She had absolute faith in Ben keeping a hold on her and Mal not letting her fall.

As fun as the experience was, Ben was still a tiny bit paranoid about being so high up. He knew Mal didn't need to be worried about but Evie was another story, he needed the reassurance Evie was alright. Not that she minded her boyfriend holding her during flight.

Even before they discovered Mal's ability to shapeshift, Ben had never flown all that much. Come to think of it, had he ever flown anywhere? Probably not.

They never came close to the ground before Mal shifted direction so that she was rising higher. After a few more aerial maneuvers, Mal settled into a gentle glide.

"Still as awesome as ever, M." Evie laughed, completely breathless, and patted Mal's scaled neck.

"Now if we can just get Carlos over his motion sickness." Ben chuckled at the memory. He hadn't actually been there, but he'd been told in excruciating detail by Mal after the fact. "Then we can finally bring him up here."

Mal hissed. Ben didn't need to speak dragon to know that meant something along the lines of "I'm never letting him on me again".

Evie said nothing, but Ben could fell from the way her body was shaking ever so slightly that she was trying to hide her giggles. Her fingers ran along Ben's hands at her stomach while she laid her head back.

"Hi there." Evie smiled when her eyes found Ben's over her shoulder.

Ben leaned in and kissed her on the lips without a word but the moment the two made contact, Mal shifted slightly. Not enough to be worrying or to make them worry, but it was enough to make them separate.

"Of for the love of… come on, Mal." Evie scowled.

Mal snorted.

"Don't give me that." Evie admonished. "We're hundreds of feet in the air, with a perfect day, the perfect view, and my perfect loves. This is the exact definition of romantic, so don't be spoiling it for me."

Mal made another sound.

"Fine." Evie leaned down and touched her lips to Mal's scaled neck. "Better?"

Another snort from Mal.

"Okay, okay." Evie rolled her eyes. "I'll give you a real kiss when we land, how's that?"

That seemed to appease Mal, the next noise she made was one of approval.

"Now where were… why are you laughing, Ben?" Evie arched a flawless eyebrow.

"You and Mal." Ben forced himself to calm down as he rested his chin on Evie's shoulder. "You boss around and bargain with a dragon. I know it's Mal, but you have to see how funny this is."

"I'm just that cool." Evie attempted a rather poor imitation of Mal's voice. It had Ben laughing all the harder, with Evie joining in right alongside him. Mal was unamused, judging by the snarl she made.

As great as the fight was, it was a means to an end and not their whole plan. Mal carried them further and further from the castle and up into the mountains. Once they reached their destination, Mal slowly descended and landed with every bit of grace as her last.

Ben dismounted first, then helped Evie down. He didn't actually have to, but Evie always loved it when he played the 'knight in shining armor' as she called it.

With her two passengers off, Mal transformed back to her normal form in a burst of purple smoke.

"We… need to put you on a diet, Ben." Mal sucked in heavy breaths, leaning forward with hands on her knees. "You're heavy."

Mal might be able to turn into a dragon, but she wasn't as old as Maleficent. As a result, her dragon form wasn't quite as large or strong as her mothers. She could carry the two of them, but it wasn't exactly easy.

Evie opened her mouth, but was cut off by Mal.

"Evie's fine, totally light as a feather, I could carry her all day no biggie."

"Wow, way to play favorites, Mal." Ben shook his head but holding in his amusement. "What do you want, I wonder."

"I know exactly what she wants." Evie stalked over to their girlfriend.

"E…" Mal only managed to get the one letter out before Evie crashed her lips to the fairy's. Mal was caught so flat footed, she could do nothing but submit to the taller girl's kiss.

"Whoa." Mal's green eyes were clouded over in a daze when a grinning Evie pulled away. Evie's arms around Mal might have been the only thing keeping the girl on her feet. "Okay… all is forgiven, my princess."

"So you won't mind me and Ben's moonlit make-out session on the way back home?" Evie teased, voice laced with honey.

"Don't push it." Mal glared, but the look was all bark and no bite. Flopping herself onto the ground in front of a nearby tree, Mal motioned for Ben to come over. "Get over here so I have a pillow."

"Yes, Ma'am." Ben saluted and moved into position sitting with his back to the trunk. Mal scooted back so she was sitting between his legs, her back leaning against his chest. Evie immediately took the vacant spot in front of Mal.

It wasn't quite their normal seating arrangement. Ben would usually sit in back since he had the largest body, Evie in front of him, then Mal up front. They changed it up sometimes, but that was how they usually sat together like this. Mal was still drained from her flight though, so Ben was happy to accommodate their fairy.

Mal was in Ben's arms for a fraction of a second before she relaxed completely and closed her eyes. Ben didn't miss the chance to place a kiss to the side of her head. Mal sighed happily in response.

"Nap if you want, but you'll miss it." Evie tilted her head back so she could see Mal.

"I'm awake, I'm awake." Mal groaned, reopening her eyes.

The trio had timed their outing well. Only now was the sun starting to set, bathing the horizon in an ocean of oranges, red, and yellows.

"You weren't kidding, Ben." Mal sat up a little to take in the view. "How did you find this place anyway?"

"Back when things were a little less hectic, my parents and I would go out camping sometimes." Ben explained. "This was one of the stops my mom found."

"You always show us these great places from your childhood." Evie looked away. "We can't really show you anything from ours. Nothing worth seeing, anyway."

"Hey." Mal lightly kissed Evie on the shoulder before pulling her body against hers. "Don't do that. We don't need the isle, and we got better here. We got Ben."

"Yeah." Evie turned around so she could point her whole upper body toward her lovers, lips raised in the biggest smile Ben had seen yet. "We did, didn't we?"

Leaning over Mal, Evie gave Ben the softest of kisses.

Mal cleared her throat noisily with an expectant look. Evie gave her a kiss too along with a roll of the eyes, but Mal still looked like she was waiting for something. It wasn't until Ben kissed her too that Mal went back to relaxing against Ben.

"No more talk about before or now, okay guys?" Mal looked at Evie and Ben both in turn. "Let's just sit here and enjoy being together."

"Sounds good to me." Ben agreed.

"Nothing I want more." Evie snuggled against Mal once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be another chapter with Lily and Violet, but I found I liked this one more. The next one will be another future one with the kids instead.
> 
> Reviews are as always welcome, and suggestions even more so.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a couple more ideas but I'm still very open to suggestions.


End file.
